


broken in two

by lemonade_juice



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: AU for the folks, Bad attempt at humor, Character Study, F/F, I love them so much, Smut, TW: sex trafficking mentions, eve has a cat, little bit of a slow burn??, plot?, there is now smut as of chapter 11, villanelle goes undercover, villanelle has nightmares, villanelle staying in eve's house, what plot?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:07:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24719533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonade_juice/pseuds/lemonade_juice
Summary: Eve Polastri of MI6 has been looking into a string of international assassination's believing a woman is behind them. Enter Villanelle, who has been given her most difficult assignment yet; get caught by MI6. She is to go undercover and find out what they know about her and the organization she works for, while successfully managing to assassinate five people. When she is placed in witness protection after she kills Victor Kedrin, Eve volunteers to let her stay with her. They are both enticed by each other and their jobs become difficult to do as their emotions and worlds collide.
Relationships: Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 24
Kudos: 196





	1. Prologue: July 5th, 2017 : Poland

**Author's Note:**

> i am back with my first multi-chapter fic for these two! i have been working hard to write every single day this week while my thoughts are still fresh for them after the finale. i have no idea how long this fic will be but it will eventually get there. any feedback is greatly appreciated!! enjoy!

Darkness surrounded the night, crickets buzzing and mosquitos landing on sunburnt skin. It was a warm night, perfect enough to sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt; maybe do some night fishing without overheating. Cars whizzed down the asphalt road, rushing to get home to their angry wives after they’ve just spent the night in someone else’s bed. It’s peaceful, healing to the body and soul.   
Niko Polastri always went for nightly runs. It was his way of unwinding after long days working at the local schools. Even on vacation, he didn’t sacrifice his daily routine. He was born and raised in Poland, returning home for a few weeks to visit with his mother. She’d been ill recently and needed help with her medications.   
He was more than happy to help his mother but knew she may need round the clock care. She’d been diagnosed with dementia and while the doctors were saying her case is only minor, right now, it would get worse. He would have to talk to his wife, Eve, about possibly moving her into their house or a long-term facility back in London. It was a lot for him to process at the moment.   
As he rounded the empty street corner, a young woman cried out. “Please, can you help me?” Niko couldn’t see very well but as he got closer he saw the woman. She was laying on the sidewalk, bicycle laid next to her.   
“What happened?” he asked her, as he neared closer, stooping down to her eye level.   
“I was riding my bike home from a friends and I must’ve hit something,” she was hysterical in tears, holding her leg that was purple from bruising. “I went flying off and I-I think I broke my leg.”   
“Oh dear, maybe we should call you an ambulance,” he inched a little closer so he could see the damage.   
“That won’t be necessary,” the woman’s accent turned Russian, but before he had time to react, he felt a sharp pain in his neck.   
Suddenly gasping for air, he grabbed his neck, feeling blood ooze from his body. He felt weak and dizzy, but no pain. He knew he was dying and that help wouldn’t come in time. The last thing he saw before darkness consumed him was the figure of the young woman, with honey blonde hair.


	2. Eve : London

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: there will be mentions of sex trafficking/kidnapping in this chapter and the next two. it's to set up the context of Villanelle's undercover character only and will not be mentioned heavily again throughout the story. feedback is appreciated!

The scream of her alarm blared through Eve’s house. She groans, reaching for the clock to turn it off. She rubs the crust from her eyes, sitting up in bed. Her hair is unruly and she smells like last nights queso dip from the bar. Eve checks her phone to see that she has five missed calls from Bill and two from Kenny. Multiple text messages asking where she is, if she’s alive, and what happened last night.  
Chuckling to herself, she throws herself out of bed so she can shower but she stops herself. She stares at the other side of the bed, the side that hasn’t been slept in for almost three years. Not since her husband, Niko, was mugged and killed. She always misses him the most around this time, especially knowing that he would still be alive if she hadn’t told him to leave.  
They’d been fighting about her new job taking up most of her spare time. She was traveling to different cities to investigate assassinations and was barely home long enough to have dinner and sleep. Niko was lonely and felt abandoned by her but instead of taking a week off work, she told him to go visit his mother in Poland so he’d have something to do. It was an awful thing to say to him, especially knowing about her poor health. She regretted her last words to him everyday.  
Over the last few years, she came to better terms with his death. It didn’t make it easier but she was unhappy with him, for a long time. He was the perfect husband, he cooked, cleaned, fixed up the house, good in bed. There was nothing wrong with him, which she got bored of after nearly fifteen years of marriage. She’d want to do exciting things, try new things in bed, and he didn’t want change. He liked things the way they were.  
Eve refused to cheat and divorce had crossed her mind, but she had hoped when she got her new position with MI6, that the traveling would be good for both of them. That after she’d been gone on long trips, he’d be up to doing different things but that never happened. She’d waited six months before packing up his things around the house but people stopped coming over after a month. Now, his belongings sit in boxes in the basement opened only a couple times a year.  
In a way, she feels guilty mostly because she didn’t care more about his death. When the police had come to her door to tell her Niko died in a terrible accident she was distraught and couldn’t pull herself out of bed for nearly two weeks. As the weeks went on though, it was like nothing happened. The murderer was never caught and the investigation of his death is only kept open because she works for MI6. With the lack of evidence, witnesses, and/or a confession, his case is considered cold. The official investigation is through Scotland Yard but she’s secretly had her own investigation running. Even that one has run dry but she refuses to give up in looking for his killer. It makes her feel better for not caring more when he was alive.  
Fresh out of the shower, Eve dresses in a simple blouse and navy blazer with matching pants. She pins her hair back with a barrette her mother had given her when she was a kid. Heading to the kitchen now, she makes a quick cup of coffee and greets her Persian cat, Whiskers. He purrs as she runs her hand through his silky fur. She drops a cup of food in his bowl and heads out the door.  
When she arrives at the office, she’s greeted by both Bill and Kenny at the door. Something bad had surely happened.  
“Who got murdered?” Eve is quick to assume.  
“A sex trafficking politician,” Bill replies as they walk in stride together. “Did we sing Disney last night?”  
“We sure did,” Eve sips from her coffee, “Why do we care that he got murdered?”  
“Because sex traffickers never get murdered,” Kenny pipes in.  
“Well, I am not upset about one less asshole in the world.”  
They enter the conference room, where she’s greeted by her boss, Carolyn Martens and her MI5 partner Frank Haleton.  
“Good morning everyone,” Carolyn starts as soon as they’re seated, “I’m going to get straight to the point. This is an assassination.”  
“Obviously,” Eve mutters under her breath.  
“Anything to say Eve?” Carolyn lifts her eyebrow. Eve turns away in embarrassment as she continues, “We’ve started to put together profiles on assassins already in our system to see if we can find a match, however-“  
That’s when Eve blurts out, “I think it’s a woman.”  
“A woman?” Frank snide’s in reply. “How ridiculous.”  
Carolyn holds her hand up to Frank to be quiet, “I’d like to hear what she has to say.”  
“Well, um,” Eve frankly didn’t know where to go with this. She’d noticed that there was a new assassin operating internationally two years ago. A woman, based on the way she kills in a unique fashion and show-off way. She shows no mercy and undoubtedly no regret. Eve tried to mention it to Carolyn a few months back but it got looked over. Now, she is front and center with her findings because they’re relevant to today’s case. “I think there is a female assassin that has been operating internationally since 2016. I think she has been the killer to many recent political assassinations and whoever she is working for, has an agenda. I don’t know what it is, but it’s obvious that they are trying to build something or tear it down.”  
Carolyn nods her head, “I see. Very well. Bill, Kenny, and I will look further into this. Eve, there’s someone I would like for you to meet.”  
Eve feels like she’s been shrugged off but follows Carolyn into an interrogation room. There, she sees a young woman, not any older than 25 or 26. Her hair is honey blonde and she has wide, cat-like eyes that are on high alert. She has pale skin and high cheekbones that are red from crying. The first thought to Eve’s mind, is how beautiful she is.  
“This is Billie,” Carolyn tells her, “She was with the politician when he died.”  
“Was she his girlfriend?” Eve questions.  
“I’m not sure, but it’s going to be your job to find out. She needs to be kept safe because whatever she knows, this organization your assassin is working for is going to want her killed for it.” 

Eve slowly enters the room with Billie, “I brought you some water.”  
“Thank you,” she spoke with an English accent. “This may be the nicest thing anyone’s done for me all day.”  
She doesn’t speak for a moment, unsure of what to say. Eve can tell that Billie has gone through a great lot in the last twenty-four hours. She doesn’t want to overbear her with questions. “I have some questions I’d like to ask, but if at any moment it becomes to much, we can take a break.”  
Billie nods, “What do you need to know?”  
“Um, what relationship did you have to Victor Kedrin?”  
“He kidnapped me,” Billie says solemnly, “I was sixteen and on my way home from a friends house. He saw me walking and pulled over his car. Told me he’d been watching me in the schoolyard and thought I was pretty. I didn’t want to get in the car but he held a gun to my head and said if I didn’t he would murder my family.”  
“Did he ever touch you?”  
“No,” Billie shook her head, “He never did anything to me, like that I mean. He wanted me to be his personal servant, his show girl. I cooked for him, did his laundry and he would take me to big fancy dinners. He always wanted me on his arm because he thought I was so beautiful.”  
Eve let out a sigh of relief that, that creep never touched her but felt empathetic towards her because he kept her locked in a mental prison for ten years of her life. She wanted to ask if she could remember the names of some of these people he’d had dinner with, believing it could lead to something bigger. She didn’t though. Billie is clearly under a lot of stress; finally being free from her kidnapper and needing time to process it.  
“Do you know where your parents are?” Eve asks.  
Billie shakes her head, “They are dead. He had them killed two years ago after I tried to escape.”  
Jesus, Eve thinks to herself. She really has gone through it. “Did you see who killed him?”  
“No, I had my back turned to get some strudel. It was his favorite.”  
“I see,” Eve knaws on her bottom lip.  
“I am thankful to the person who did it. They saved my life.” 

In the other room with Carolyn, she says to Eve, “I’m going to organize a safe house for her.”  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Eve interjects, “She has been through a terrible ordeal in the last ten years. Did you know he had her parents killed? A safe house full of strange men after she’s just escaped from one is a recipe for disaster.”  
“What do you suggest we do then?”  
Eve glances through the two-way mirror at Billie, who’s holding her cup with white knuckles, “How about if she stays with me?”  
“I don’t know-“  
“She will feel safer being around a woman. I have a spare bedroom and we can even have a security guard outside at all times, in case something happened.”  
“We need to find out who these men that she used to meet with Kedrin are.”  
“And we will,” Eve assures her, “She just needs time to process things.”  
“Are you sure that you are up to this Eve? If anything happens to her, it’s on your hands.”  
“She will be safe, I promise. I’ll get you their names.”


	3. Villanelle : Paris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a small fyi that there are brief mentions of ST again. this is setting up for the main plot (if i can get these two apart long enough to find one) . i'm not sure how many chapters this will be but i hope you guys like it. :)

24 hours prior 

Villanelle hears the door to her flat open and shut. She turns the corner to find Konstantin, her handler, who kind of looks like her uncle too. He looks down about something but she decides not to ask.  
“What presents do you bring this time?” her Russian accent purring off her tongue.  
“Sit down,” he orders her and she does.  
“What are you doing?”  
“I want you to listen to me,” Konstantin looks her straight in the eye, “They are giving you a very, very big job. It is important that you listen to everything I tell you because you can not mess this up.”  
Villanelle smirks with delight, “I will do great, what is it?”  
Konstantin stares at her with question, before continuing, “They want you to kill a sex trafficking politician.”  
“I would do that for free! Why is that considered a big job?”  
“Because,” Konstantin pauses briefly, “They want you to get caught after you kill him.”  
“What?” Villanelle looks away, incredulous of what she just heard, “I thought the whole point was for me not to get caught?”  
“Not this time. MI6 has been looking into your kills again. They are starting to connect the dots. It is important that they do not find out about us.”  
“So, what am I supposed to do, once I get caught?”  
Konstantin pulls a list of five names out of his pocket, “You are to tell them the politician kidnapped you and took you to big fancy dinners. These are the people who you met with.”  
“What happens to them?”  
“You kill them,” Konstantin says seriously, “They will want to speak with them so you find a way to kill them before they start talking.”  
“How long do I do this for?”  
“Till they are all dead. It will take some time, remember you are traumatized. You will need to play the part well. Find out what they know and what they are doing. I will check in often, to give you locations.”  
Villanelle tries not to show it but she is a little nervous about this. She knows that she will play her part well and charm the MI6 officer’s pants off. Literally. “I will do amazing,” she assures Konstantin. “Just you wait.” 

Present: 

Villanelle is led into a tall, brick home smashed between two other houses with a small yard. The hallways are narrow but they are nice, painted a pretty yellow color. The kitchen and living room are connected in a cottage like way. There’s a TV against the wall surrounded by a bookcase filled with books and CD’s. The couch is on the opposite side with another bookcase above it, lined with Christmas lights. The kitchen is small but there’s a large fridge and a corridor leading to the backyard.  
“I know it’s not much,” Eve says, interrupting her thoughts, “But you will be safe here. I have made arrangements for there to be a security guard on duty at all times.”  
She did not need a security guard but Eve couldn’t find out who she truly was, “Thank you. It’s very kind to take a random stranger into your home. Especially someone like me.”  
“Nonsense, it’s my job to keep you safe.”  
It’s my job to find out what you know, Villanelle thought to herself. She sat her bags down in the living room floor where something caught her eye. A snow globe, from Alaska, “You’ve been to Alaska?”  
Eve looks up from her phone, “Hm? No, that belonged to my husband. He went there when he was a child.”  
“What happened to him?”  
She could tell it was a sensitive subject for Eve but curiosity never killed anyone. “He was mugged and murdered,” Eve replied curtly.  
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Villanelle says, not meaning a word of it.  
“Lets get your bags upstairs so you can get comfortable.” Eve leads her up the stairs to another hallway, “Bathroom is here on the left.”  
She takes her into the second room on the right, “This is your room. Mine is right next door so if there’s ever anything you need, I’m there.”  
“Thank you, Eve,” Villanelle grabs the woman and pulls her in for a hug. Something shifts inside her, almost like a sting, except it doesn’t hurt.  
“You okay?”  
I don’t know, Villanelle thought to herself. She’d never experienced that before. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a long day.”  
“Understood. Well, I’ll leave you to get unpacked. Just let me know if you need anything.”  
Villanelle nods and closes her door behind her as Eve leaves. She sighs and drops down on the bed, which creaks considerably. She was tired of this job already, wishing that she told Konstantin that she didn’t want to do it. Killing the politician was fine, but the rest of it was bullshit. Being under constant surveillance, how was she ever to find time to kill these people?  
She’d come up with a plan to give one name at a time but how would MI6 not catch onto her when suddenly the people she names are found dead in a river. The only way she could do this was to kill them in advance and let them figure out their relevance. It was a shitty plan. She had to make it boring and she doesn’t like boring.  
This Eve Polastri woman is going to make it hard for her though. Villanelle isn’t oblivious to the fact that she is gorgeous. Her beige skin, dark brown eyes and wild curls. What she wouldn’t do to run her hands through it. She could seduce her. That would make the job a lot easier. Yes, that’s exactly what she’ll do. Seduce her to distract her but also keeping her from not being bored the entire time. Konstantin will be proud.


	4. Eve and Villanelle : Eve's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve and Villanelle spend some time getting to know each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! here is chapter 3 where i try to establish a plot to my story but fill it with fluff instead!

In the morning, Eve sat at the dining room table nursing a cup of coffee. It definitely needed more sugar, but she was too lazy to get up and get some. Worrying about Billie kept her up all night. She’d woken up in the middle of the night screaming for help. Eve went running into her room but by the time she’d gotten there, Billie had settled back into a deep sleep. She didn’t disturb the woman any more but stayed on guard in case it happened again.   
Billie slept through the rest of the night and is still asleep. She decides to call Carolyn and give her an update and to let her know what happened.   
“Eve, how is Billie?” she says into the phone almost immediately.  
“Uh, she’s still asleep right now, she had a nightmare in the middle of the night.”   
“That’s to be expected. Has she mentioned any names?”   
“No, nothing. She still just needs time.”  
“I see, well, hopefully she remembers the names sooner rather than later.”  
“How is the Kedrin case coming along?” Eve desperately wants to change the subject. Suddenly feeling guilty for taking Billie under her wing just to force information out of her.   
“It’s going. There’s no CCTV of the assassin and no witnesses have come forward yet.”  
“Hm, well I don’t think anybody will. He wasn’t exactly a prize citizen.”   
“Precisely. Well, I have to get back to the sauna. My glutes have been sore something awful,” and with that the phone went dead.   
At that time, Billie started to descend her way down the steps into the kitchen.   
“Good morning,” she smiled softly at Eve.   
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Eve sits up, watching her intently. “Did you sleep okay?”   
“Like a baby,” she replies, pouring a cup of coffee for herself and meeting Eve at the table. “It’s nice to sleep in a bed where you’re not worried if someone is going to kill you or not.”   
Eve looks down at the floor, mind wandering for a few moments, before asking, “Do you remember what your nightmare was about?”   
Billie sits back in the chair and her eyes go wide, almost with aversion, “I had a nightmare?”   
Eve wishes she hadn’t brought it up, but it was out in the open now, “I-I, heard you screaming for help and when I went to check on you, you were asleep.”   
Billie nods, keeping silent. She couldn’t tell what was going through the woman’s mind, but she was definitely unsettled by the whole thing. Eve knew it wasn’t her place but she put a hand on hers, “You can talk to me about it you know. I want you to feel safe.”  
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Billie pushes the chair back, nearly knocking over her cup of coffee and takes off back up the stairs.   
She hears the door slam shut and slumps down in her chair. That conversation didn’t go the way she wanted. She knew it was too soon to bring it up and should let Billie come to her. Eve sighs heavily, getting up to pour more coffee into her cup. A scream comes from upstairs, causing her to drop the mug onto the floor. Eve sprints up the stairs into Billie’s room. “What happened!?”  
Billie is pointing at Whiskers, who’s perched on her dresser, meowing loudly, “Where did it come from?”   
Eve picks him up and tucks him into her arm, “This is my cat. His name is Whiskers. He’s friendly, if you want to pet him.”   
“No,” Billie shakes her head, “That is okay. Animals don’t like me.”   
“Oh,” Eve is taken aback, “Whiskers loves everyone. Even the shitty neighbor.”   
Billie stands there, obviously uncomfortable by her cat. Eve takes the hint, “Well, I’ll let you be.”   
Shutting the door behind her, she sets Whisker’s down who darts off to somewhere else in the house. Eve, puzzled, goes back downstairs. She knows that Billie has experienced a lot in the last ten years of her life but who doesn’t like cats? Especially in a time where any type of comfort would be appreciated. Maybe Billie just wanted to block it all out, which is understandable. She couldn’t deny that it was odd, though. 

Later in the evening, Villanelle decides that she should try to make conversation with Eve. As much as she detests her situation, she cannot deny that Eve is a sexy woman. She will enjoy seducing her but she has to get to know her first. Find out what she likes and dislikes. How her mind works. There’s a lot of things that go into knowing a person and luckily she is very good at it.  
She can smell something cooking as she descends the staircase, something beefy. Music is playing softly and Eve doesn’t hear her approaching, so she takes the time to study the woman’s features. Her body moves in rhythm to the beat, hips languid as she stirred the pot. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, which is fine, but it looks so much better worn down.   
Villanelle watched Eve for a few moments longer, deciding to finally make her presence known, “What’s for dinner?”   
Her comment makes Eve visibly jump, “Oh jeez, you scared me.” She places a hand to her heart and goes back to stirring the pot, “I’m making spaghetti and meatballs. It’s the only thing I don’t burn.”   
“Do you cook often?” This is something that Villanelle needs to know if they are going to be spending all their time together. A good cook at that.   
“Um, no,” Eve replies sheepishly, “I order out most nights, but some nights I try to cook. Then I order takeout.”   
Ugh, Villanelle thinks to herself. A beautiful woman with no cooking skills, worse than a Greek tragedy. It’s a good thing that she learned to cook at a young age, or else she’d be doomed. Who is she kidding though, she is amazing at everything she does.   
“It smells delicious,” she assures Eve, stepping a little closer to look at the contents of the pot. The spaghetti noodles were starting to burn and the sauce was nearly ready to boil over. Her eyes widened as she reached over to turn the burners off, “I think it’s ready to eat.”   
“Oh,” Eve frowns, “I thought it still needed a few minutes.”   
Villanelle genuinely chuckles, “A few minutes longer and we would’ve had to order pizza.”   
“I’m so embarrassed.”   
“Don’t be,” Villanelle grabs some plates from the cabinets, “Everybody makes mistakes. The ones made while cooking are easier to fix, though.”   
They fix their plates and sit down at the dining room table. They sit in silence for a while, until Eve says, “Do you have any hobbies?”   
Huge question, Eve. She could blow her cover right now and tell her that she kills people all over the world. That would ruin the mood though and she likes Eve’s presence. Only a little though.   
“Snow-globe collecting,” Villanelle answers, thinking about the one from Alaska.   
“Oh, did you have a lot of them?”   
She nods, “Tons. He used to bring them to me from all the countries he visited. Germany, Russia, Italy.”   
“He, as in Kedrin?”   
Villanelle forcibly shuddered, “Please, don’t say his name. The last ten years of my life have been filled with him. I want to forget about it.”   
“Of course, I won’t bring it up again.”   
There was an awkward silence, till Villanelle broke it by asking, “Where did you grow up?”   
“America,” Eve pushes a hair behind her ear that springs back out again, making Villanelle smile slightly, “I was born here but moved there with my dad when they divorced.”   
“Did you enjoy America? I’ve never been.”   
Eve bites at her bottom lip. Stop that, Villanelle wants to say. It’s sexy and does things to her. “America, is a huge dumpster fire. Most of the people are good people, hard-working and honest but the politics and corruption that are just swept under the rug is revolting.”   
“I don’t think I would like it there,” Villanelle meant what she said. She watches the news, she knows what it’s like over there.   
“Where did you grow up?”   
A trick question, Villanelle catches. When she tells Eve where she grew up, she’ll look into newspapers to find stories of a teenage girl that went missing ten years ago. Then, when she comes up with nothing, she will question her about it. Her cover will be blown and Konstantin will have her head for it.   
“I don’t really remember,” she shakes her head, “My memories have blurred over the years. I just remember that we had a really nice house and my mom was very beautiful.”   
Eve nods, “You must get your looks from her.”   
Villanelle is taken aback by her comment. She knows that she is beautiful and does not need to be told by other people that she is. Coming from the gorgeous asian woman with amazing hair, however, sparked something inside her. She had that feeling again, the same one from when she hugged her, but different. This one was alive. She hated it and wanted it to go away.   
Feelings were bad news for Villanelle. So she suppressed them and tucked them away deep inside the crevices of her soul. They screamed for release so she killed to snuff out their pleas. That is what she did this time, plucking the feathery feeling in her stomach and shoving it into a dark box where it would be locked away forever.   
“Do you smell something?” Villanelle’s nose upturns, breaking her away from her own mind.   
Eve shrieks, “The meatballs!”


	5. Villanelle : Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of a filler chapter of Villanelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exciting things between Eve and Villanelle are coming! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. feedback is always appreciated :)

Villanelle sat awake at 3 in the morning, watching the time on the clock slowly tick by. Eve mentioned this morning that she had a nightmare. She did not have nightmares. It was absurd that she even thought as much. So, she sat awake, refusing to go to sleep so she could prove to her that she doesn’t have nightmares.  
It is going to be a difficult task however, as she’d already started to nod off a few times, snapping herself awake. She is used to going long stretches with sleep, though. Sometimes when she traveled, she’d have to stay awake the entire time, in case someone tried to murder her. She’d gotten used to it really, but she enjoys days where she can sleep for as long as she wants.  
Eve’s cat pushes the door to her room open, jolting her awake again. It was an ugly thing, it’s face squished up and frowning. He meows, jumping up on her bed. She jumps off her bed and opens her door, “Get out. Go,” she orders in the softest possible voice she can manage. She doesn’t want to disturb Eve, but she did not want this cretin getting its hair all over her bed.  
Whiskers, his name, as Villanelle recalls did not listen to a thing she said. In fact, he pawed at her bed and made himself comfortable. He meows again and closes his eyes into a deep sleep. You have to be kidding me, Villanelle thought to herself. She twists her face up, annoyed with it. “Fine,” she huffs, sitting on the other side of the bed, “You can lay here but you better not touch me.” The cat replied with a soft sigh, carefree about everything. This is shit. 

Sometime later, she was shook awake. When she opened her eyes, Eve stood over her with concern on her face. “Billie?”  
“What? What are you doing?” Villanelle rubs her eyes open and pushes herself up.  
“You were having another nightmare,” Eve steps back, aware that she had invaded her space, “Someone was hurting you, in the dream I mean.”  
Villanelle’s disgusted with herself for falling asleep. She pulls her knees up to her chest and rocks back and forth. Not because she is upset but angry rather, and she doesn’t know why. Things that are unknown to her make her uneasy, like how people are afraid of dying because they don’t know what comes after. She knows there is nothing after she dies so she is not afraid of that. What she doesn’t know about herself that other people may know scares her.  
“I want to be left alone,” Villanelle states curtly realizing that Eve is still in the room.  
Eve leaves her quietly, alone with her thoughts. She wants to scream, no she wants to kill. She needs to kill. To snuff out a life and see it disappear into nothing. People think your soul leaves when you die but she swears it goes further in.  
She hops off the bed and lifts the corner of her mattress to find the list Konstantin gave her. Cesar Greco, the first name. He would be dead soon and chaos in Eve’s world will ensue. She rips the list up into tiny pieces and opens the window slightly, letting the pieces fly into the wind. 

When Eve has gone the next morning, it gives Villanelle the chance to finally snoop around her house. It seems that Eve doesn’t have many hobbies or friends, for that matter. Her house is a bit dusty and the furniture could use some updating. She has some antique pieces though, which suit her quite nicely. The books on her shelf are mostly textbooks with a few erotica novels. Poor baby, Villanelle thinks to herself.  
She rummages through the drawers in the living room, finding mostly junk. A lot of batteries, wrapping paper, a kite. What Eve would need a kite for is beyond her. Under all of that though, she finds a scrapbook with baby stuff all over it. It peaks her interest, so she takes it out and sits down on the couch.  
It’s all pictures of Eve when she was a baby. She was a chunky little thing and had a big head. Villanelle assumes that it’s her parents holding her, as she looks at a photo of them standing in front of Big Ben together. They look so happy. Eve must’ve had a good childhood. Unlike her, whose own mother abandoned her at an orphanage. Villanelle closes the scrapbook and places it back in the drawer, in attempt to keep herself from getting angry.  
A knock comes from the door, making her pause. Eve said before she left that nobody would be coming by and the only person who’d be around is her security guard. She quickly grabs a knife from the block in the kitchen and trepidly makes her way to the door. Villanelle takes in a deep breath and slowly opens the door to find Konstantin standing there.  
“May I come in?”  
Villanelle has half to mind to stab him for showing up unannounced like this but she doesn’t know how she would explain that to Eve. “What do you want?” She lets him in and once she gets a good look of him in the light, she notices that he is dressed like a security guard. “Are you who they sent to protect me? I’d rather just take my chances.”  
“I am not here for that,” Konstantin stands in the kitchen, hands in his pockets. It’s obvious that he wants to make this quick. “Cesar Greco will be in Manchester tomorrow evening, you need to kill him.”  
He produces a train ticket and a postcard from his pocket. Villanelle takes them and tucks them under her waistband, “How am I supposed to keep Eve from knowing I left?”  
“Be creative. Give her something to keep her busy at work tomorrow. Create a distraction. Just don’t let her know something is up.”  
“What if I can’t do it?”  
“You can,” Konstantin steps forward, unnerving her a little, “Because you don’t want to find out what happens if you don’t.”  
“Hello?” Eve’s voice is heard as the door shuts behind her in the hallway. She sees them standing in the kitchen and drops her bag to the floor, “Oh my gosh, did something happen?”  
“No,” Villanelle smiles, moving so she is right next to her. “I thought I had heard something in the backyard so I had Lester here, come check things out. It was just a squirrel.”  
“And I am just leaving,” Konstantin smiles clearly annoyed and steps past Villanelle, leaving through the front door. She watches him as he goes and doesn’t turn her attention back to Eve till she knows he is gone.  
“Are you sure that you are okay?” Eve takes Villanelle’s hands, checking over her as if she is looking for injuries.  
“Yes, I am fine,” Villanelle thought it nice that someone is showing concern over her wellbeing. Even nicer with it coming from Eve. “Thank you. It’s nice to know that you have someone who cares what happens you.”  
Villanelle meant those words and frankly, she didn’t care that she gave Eve insight into her her head. Eve is kind and kind people deserve good things. She doesn’t understand what those things are but hopes that her words made Eve feel something. Because Eve makes her feel things, too.


	6. Eve : MI6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve spends some time at MI6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! here is a chapter with a little bit of plot added since this story will be mostly fluff. feedback is always great and thank you for reading :)

Eve clicks her pen mindlessly, pushing it up and down on her desk. She’s worried about Billie. After yesterday, when she thought she’d heard someone outside, Eve offered to stay with her today but Billie insisted that she came to work. Saying that she felt safe with the security guard outside. She cares about Billie, leaving her there by herself wasn’t easy. Especially after the nightmares again last night.  
She wanted to reach out to her but instead decided to watch her. Billie screamed out for help, crying and thrashing. Her hands gripping the sheets for comfort. Hair sticking to her face that was red from fear. The whole thing lasted for only a few minutes and didn’t happen again the rest of the night. She wishes she knew what was causing them so she could help her. Hopefully, make her feel better.   
“Are you going to do that all day?” Elena snaps, breaking her away from the pen clicking, “You’ve been doing it for hours.”   
“Sorry,” Eve sets the pen down sheepishly, “I’m just worried about Billie.”   
“How is she doing? Any luck on getting names?”   
“No,” Eve nervously runs a hand through her hair, “I don’t think she remembers.”   
“Have you told Carolyn that?”  
“Not yet.”   
“Well, you can’t force the girl to remember.”   
Bill and Kenny bust through the door before Elena can finish her sentence. “There’s been another kill.” 

Cesar Greco, another politician. Infamous for embezzling money to private militaries. He was killed with a hairpin with a poison injector to the neck. Stabbed while he was walking through the streets of Manchester. Quite impressive, actually. Though this means that she is right about the assassin being a female and that she is in England. If she still is at all. That means Billie could be in danger.   
“I need to go home,” Eve announces.   
“What for?” Carolyn asks as she steps into the room.   
“To check on Billie, our assassin is in England.”   
“That won’t be necessary. I’ve already dispatched extra officers to you house. She is perfectly safe.” Eve didn’t like how convenient that was but she is in no place to argue. “How are those names coming along?”   
Eve sighs, “I don’t think you’ll be getting them.”   
“Why on earth not?” Carolyn has a way of saying things when she is annoyed without sounding annoyed, which is how she sounds right now.   
“She doesn’t remember and she is obviously traumatized. Forcing them out of her would be cruel.”   
“Your job is to find out what she knows. If she is not going to tell us, then maybe we should just send her on her way. She’s of no use to us.”  
Eve couldn’t believe what she just heard. Scoffing, “And what happens to her then? You’ll just let her get murdered in the streets.”  
Carolyn doesn’t reply which tells Eve everything she needs to know. “I don’t want everyone who could have important information turn up dead before she decides to talk.”   
“Yeah, well, I don’t either but that doesn’t mean-“   
“Either you do your job or you’ll no longer have one,” Carolyn turns on her heel and walks out, leaving Eve standing there completed dumbfounded. What the hell. 

Eve rushes to get home as quickly as she can at the end of her shift. It’s still daylight outside when she unlocks the door to her house. It’s eerily quiet inside, “Billie,” she calls out. “I’m home!” No reply. Don’t panic Eve, she tells herself. She might be listening to music or taking a nap.   
She rounds the corner into the kitchen where Billie enters through the backdoor, “I heard you calling for me. I was out in the yard.” Billie wore a pair of khaki’s and hiking boots with an old beat up t-shirt.   
She’s more relieved than she’s willing to admit, “I was just making sure you were okay, is all.”   
“Stressful day?” Billie removes her shoes by the backdoor and joins Eve in the kitchen. She pours them both a glass of cold tea.   
“You have no idea,” Eve sits at the table with Billie. “My boss is a jackass.”   
“Do you want to talk about it?” Billie offers, taking a sip of her tea.  
Truthfully, Eve did want to talk about it. She wants to talk about how all she could think of doing in that moment was bashing Carolyn over the head with a chair. That would probably scare her though. “I wish I could.”   
Billie nods, “I understand a lot more than you think.”   
She bites her lip, knowing that she shouldn’t but says to her anyways, “Do you ever think about hurting people? I know it’s wrong and I would never do it but how do people go through so much and not want to kill someone.”   
Billie remains practically emotionless, “Sometimes, I do think about it. How different my life would be if I had listened to my inner demons. Other times, I think it’s harder to be good than it is to be evil.”   
“How did you suppress them? For all that time.”   
“Fear. I knew that I would have to hide for the rest of my life unless I wanted them to kill me. I didn’t think I could do that so I just, did what I had to do.”   
Eve stares into Billie’s eyes and sees the innocence in them. She can see years of pain and emotional vulnerability tucked away. “I think you are very brave,” Eve means every word, “It takes a strong soul to do what you did.”   
“You know, people always say that when a person goes through a great ordeal and survive but what about the weak ones? The ones who don’t make it through or come out so damaged they go insane. Nobody ever talks about them.”   
“I think nobody talks about them because they don’t want to admit that the universe failed them. The universe is supposed to protect them, not betray them.”   
“What happens when they’ve failed themselves?” Billie counteracts her statement, “When they made the decision to be in the position they’re in and can’t get out?”   
Eve didn’t know what to say to that, “I don’t know what happens to them.”   
They both sit in silence, alone with their thoughts. This is the first real, deep conversation that they’ve had with each other since they stumbled into each others lives. If Eve is being honest with herself, she has always struggled to maintain the line between good and evil. She wants to be a good person, help people, save the world and other great things. She knows she is a good person, but there is this flicker of darkness that comes alive inside her. It’s herself telling her to punch someone in the face because they stole her lunch or push the person onto the train rail because they almost knocked her over.   
Ignoring it becomes harder and harder everyday because no matter how many times she tries to keep it hidden away, it always comes to light. She can’t make it stop no matter how hard she tries. It’s the reason that she stopped caring about Niko long before he died. She was too invested in what she wanted for herself that Niko’s needs were unimportant. Since she’s being honest, that is why she was so piqued by this assassin. The way that she kills with absolute precision and no conscious at all brought something feral out in herself. She supposes that may answer Billie’s question from a few minutes ago. Strong people are not afraid to embrace their inner monsters while weak people, like Eve are too coward to let go and accept it.


	7. Villanelle : Internally Struggling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konstantin comes to visit and she's reminded of Anna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi y'all! here's a little back story on villanelle about anna. i hope you guys enjoy! leave feedback if there's anything you guys particularly enjoy! :)

Konstantin comes to visit Villanelle the next morning to congratulate her on killing Cesar. He is dressed like a security guard again and gave her a small envelope with money, “There will be a lot more after you complete the job. You can’t have too much money lying around so save this for emergencies.”  
“Did you know that I have nightmares?” Villanelle asks, uninterested in talking about her job right now.  
“You? Nightmares?” Konstantin chuckles deeply, “I would have to see it to believe it.”  
“I’ve had one every night since I’ve been here. Eve has to come check on me.”  
Konstantin is serious now, peering into her eyes, “Are they about Anna?”  
Villanelle’s face twists with anger. She should slap him for bringing her name up. He knows what Anna did to her. “When do I kill the next guy?”  
“Next week,” Konstantin turns to leave, “They will get suspicious if you kill them too quickly. I won’t see you for a couple of days. Behave and don’t do anything stupid.” 

After Konstantin leaves, Villanelle heads back to her room. She slams the door behind her and rams her head into a pillow and lets out an angry scream that comes out more like a cry. Tears stain her face and while she quickly wipes them away, more are quick to come. She falls to the floor and clutches the pillow to her chest, slowly rocking back and forth to make herself calm down.  
Except, she can’t calm down. Her heart is beating rapidly and she can’t make it stop. She feels as if she’s been stabbed in the gut, blood oozing everywhere with no signs of stopping. It hurts but it brings her a certain kind of clarity, too. The type that heals old wounds forever after they’ve been re-opened.  
She closes her eyes, letting the pain soothe her, numbing her. Memories of her come flooding back slowly. The dates in the park, hidden behind trees in case someone were to see. Stolen kisses in the schoolyard. Sex in the backseat of the car.  
Anna Leonova, her old school teacher and lover. They met when Villanelle transferred to a new school after she was expelled from her last one for stabbing a kid with a pencil. Her name was Oksana Astankova then. The name she gave up forever when she became Villanelle. The one who died so Villanelle could live.  
When she met Anna, it was on her first day at the new school in the dining hall. She sat alone in the corner eating her beef stroganoff that tasted like pig feed. Nobody had wanted to sit with her but she didn’t mind that so much because she hated everyone there. The teachers had all made her sit in the back, away from the other students. So when this beautiful older woman with gorgeous black hair sauntered up to her table and asked if she could have lunch with her, there was no way she could say no.  
Lunch that day was one of many. Anna would invite her up to her classroom and they would tell each other old family stories to laugh about. Villanelle didn’t have as many to go around, as her mother ditched her at an orphanage and later died in a car accident. Though, Anna always liked to hear the stories of how Villanelle would dress up in bloody clothing and chase her brother around with a knife. It never amused her mother but it made Anna laugh.  
She also taught Villanelle almost every language she knows. Anna knew many of them, Russian, English, French, Italian, and German. They had an inside joke that one day when Villanelle had learned every language in the world, she’d have nothing left. It wasn’t a very funny joke when she thought about it now. She would have done anything for Anna, though. If she wanted to go to the moon, Villanelle would’ve found a way to make that happen.  
Anna knew that too. She knew that she could ask Villanelle to do anything for her and she would do it. So at first, the requests were simple; if she wanted a special tuna sandwich, Villanelle would make it or if she needed help grading papers, she’d do it. Over time, they became more demanding. She’d want Villanelle to steal expensive jewelry or vandalize possessions of people who’d wronged her. Villanelle did them, always, because Anna told her she loved her more than she did anyone else.  
That included her husband, Max. He and Anna were married for nearly twenty years, so it was quite a shock to Villanelle when Anna asked for her to kill him. She didn’t want to do it but Anna was very manipulative. She’d made Villanelle believe that if she killed her husband, the two of them would run away together. That was all she could ask for and the thought of them laying on the beach together somewhere excited her.  
So, she did it. Villanelle had waited for Max to come home one evening while Anna stayed over at school. She attacked him with a pocket knife, cutting his throat and then proceeded to castrate him. Villanelle felt proud of herself for doing what she had done, so she ordered a cake and some balloons to celebrate.  
When Anna got home that evening, it was like she turned into an entirely different person within the last 24 hours. She screamed and degraded Villanelle, calling her an evil monster. Hit her across the face when she tried to get away. The police arrested her and she was sentenced to life in prison.  
While Villanelle was in prison, she was beaten nearly everyday by the guards and spent most of her time in solitary. She got into fights with other inmates to make her feel better about Anna’s betrayal, vowing to kill her if she ever saw her again. It was like that for three years until Konstantin came to see her. He said that he could arrange for her release if she came to work for him. Her job was to kill people without question or second thought.  
It was easy work, at first. She went through training to protect herself in any situation and learn multiple killing techniques. Better than the best, she was told by everyone. It silenced her mind, relieved the 24 years of pent up anger. She killed three, four people a week. Five if it was a good week. She used to keep count of all the people she’s murdered but now, the number is too high to recall.  
Now, if she is being honest with herself, she’s starting to get bored of doing it. Not because she can’t do it because she can, but she has lost the passion for it. Killing helped her cope but now she has become numb. Or at least she thinks she has. Most days, she feels nothing. Some days like today it hits her like a brick in the face.  
She cannot deny that Eve hasn’t played a part in this. Since she has come into her life, Villanelle has not been easily able to turn off her emotions like before. It’s different with Eve than it was with Anna. With Eve, it’s almost like a wave of fresh air has filled her lungs. She doesn’t have to pretend to be someone different with her. Even though she is right now, she knows deep down that they are equals.


	8. Eve : Takeout and Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that with everything going on in the fandom, people find some solace in fanfiction right now. i love villanelle and my love for her will not change. i will continue to support this show because it is my favorite show. please do not feel discouraged for still loving these characters if they have impacted your life in an important way. you are valid. 
> 
> my fanfiction is a safe place for all LGBTQ & POC. no hate is ever tolerated here. my tumblr page is kissvillanelle, if anyone is needing a positive/safe space to go to. 
> 
> this is a shorter chapter again, but i hope y'all enjoy regardless. the chapter is all about eve! i hope today is a wonderful day for everyone whenever you are reading this. if you like it, please leave feedback :)

“Do you want extra lime pickle?” Eve asks Billie from across the room. The other woman sits on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. Billie had asked Eve if they could have a movie night together and of course she couldn’t say no. Even if she had three, five-page reports to turn in by tomorrow.   
“I’m good, thanks,” Billie replies as the music to the Titanic DVD plays in the background.   
Eve finishes making their plates and joins Billie over on the couch just as she hits play on the movie. She ordered Indian for the two of them after Billie mentioned she’d never tried it. Now, here they are. Eve clears her throat as the intro to the movie begins, “The music is what always gets me. I don’t think I’ve made it through this movie once without crying.”   
Billie hushes her, “Don’t spoil it!”   
Eve can’t help but laugh as she relaxes back into silence. That’s how they both remain throughout the movie, eyes never leaving the TV. Eve sniffles a couple times but Billie remains emotionless. She finds that strange, to be honest. If there is any movie that is guaranteed to make you cry, it’s this one. Yet, Billie is completely unaccessible.   
“Well,” Eve shifts up on the couch and turns so that she is facing her, “What did you think?”   
She doesn’t answer right away and her face turns in knots, almost like a cartoon character, “They both could’ve fit on that door.”   
“Ah, the argument of the century.”   
“What do you mean?” Billie asks with her head cocked to the side.   
“Well, since the movie released, people have argued that they both could’ve fit on the door but they’ve actually proven that it’s impossible. The weight of both of them would cause the door to sink and then they both would be dead.”   
Billie is silent, then, “Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with someone in that short of a time? Let alone die for them?”   
Eve takes a moment to think about it. She recalls when she met Niko at a shitty bar in South London. She was fresh out of college and had just moved back from America. It was a spur of the moment decision and frankly, she’d hoped that someone would pick her up since she didn’t have anywhere to go that night. Luckily, Niko was there and he didn’t turn out to be a serial killer.   
He let her stay the night at his place while he slept on the couch. Well, one night turned into two and then three. Then sometime in between she officially moved in and it wasn’t until a month after that, that they actually went on a date. They were young and stupid that they didn’t realize they’d been crushing on each other that entire time.   
“I think love is spontaneous,” Eve pauses to contemplate her next words, “You don’t really think about it until you feel it and when you’re in love, anything is possible.”   
“What does love feel like?”   
“It feels like,” she pauses again, “Like you’re wide awake. That you would do anything to make that person happy. You feel it in your soul and it makes you come alive.”   
“Have you ever been in love?”   
Eve hates how easy it is to answer the question because she admits something aloud that she never has before, “Once. A girl named Lucy, we went to college together. She was so beautiful, like a model out of a magazine. She was kind and compassionate and affectionate. I felt so lucky that a girl like her could love someone like me. I wore glasses and dorky clothes and sometimes forgot to put deodorant on.” Billie is listening intently as Eve continues, “We were together for two years. Then all of a sudden, she disappeared.”   
Billie’s eyes widen, “Did something happen to her? Did they ever find her?”   
“It wasn’t like that. She always told me how she was afraid that she’d never amount to anything in life and I always told her that she should take a leap of faith and go searching for her calling. She took it quite literally. Now, she’s a super mega rich business woman selling perfume.”   
“Why haven’t you gone after her?”   
“Because,” she looks Billie in the eyes, “I knew it wasn’t meant to be. I was devatasted over it but I moved on eventually. Love is painful sometimes but I think that’s what keeps us coming back.”   
Billie is a quiet person, Eve notes of. She takes her time to think about things before responding. “Didn’t you love your husband?”   
“No,” it’s the cold, hard truth and she realizes that there is no sense in hiding it anymore. “I did love him yes, but I wasn’t in love with him.”   
“There’s a difference?”   
“Yes. Loving someone and having that soul connection with someone is very different.”   
“You never had that with him?”   
“I don’t think so,” Eve admits. She turns the table to Billie, wanting to know more about her experiences, if she had any. “Have you ever been in love?”   
“I had someone once,” Billie says softly, “But they were not the person I thought they were.”   
“Do you want to talk about it?”   
“Not really. She hurt me pretty badly.”   
It was a she. Eve doesn’t know why but that small confession makes her light up inside. It’s wrong of her to even be having these feelings towards Billie since she is a figure of authority and she just got out of a tragic situation. She just feels this connection with her that she can’t explain. Like there is something mutual between them.   
Frankly, truth be told, Eve doesn’t plan on getting those names for Carolyn. Billie’s well-being is much more important to her. What she plans to do is help her feel comfortable with the world again, help her find acceptance in herself. If Carolyn wants those names, she’s going to have to find them herself.


	9. Villanelle : Feelings Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well here we are seeing Villanelle kill someone for the first time! or two people rather. things are getting spicy between them. hope y'all enjoy!

After her heartfelt conversation with Eve, Villanelle finds it impossible to turn off her brain. This woman has intoxicated her. She can’t function without thinking of Eve, Eve, Eve, and Eve. Villanelle wants to touch her, to kiss her. Do things that she shouldn’t.   
She feels reassured knowing that Eve has had feelings for women in the past. The only person she ever loved was a woman. When Eve said that to her, Villanelle wanted nothing more than to jump her bones but she restrained herself. She can’t act on this, not yet anyways. Her feelings have to stay hidden, regardless of how hard it will be. Not until she knows that Eve feels the same. She won’t let herself be hurt again. 

Two Days Later:

Konstantin comes to visit about ten minutes after Eve has left for work. He is dressed normally this time and has recently had a haircut. She is not pleased to see him and it appears he has the same sentiment. He looks agitated and like he’s about to tear her a new one.   
“What are you doing?” He asks, infuriated. She is right.   
“My job?” Villanelle is unsure of what he is talking about. Actually, that is a lie but she is going to wait to hear him say it.   
“Your job is to give her names. Has she even mentioned anything about you?”   
“No, she hasn’t.”   
“That is because you are not doing your job!” Konstantin throws his hands in the air. He opens Eve’s fridge and pours himself a glass of milk.   
“You should really ask for permission before doing that.”   
“I don’t need permission to have a glass of milk. It’s been a very stressful couple of days. Did you know that I am under a lot of pressure?”   
“You are always under a lot of pressure,” Villanelle rolls her eyes, striding across the room, “Why is it so important that I give her names if they end up dead anyways?”   
“Because she is very close to finding out the name of the organization. If you tell her names, she will go looking for them and come up empty handed when she finds them dead in the ditch.”  
“How do you know that I haven’t told her anything?” Villanelle knows he is getting his information elsewhere.   
“That is not important. What is important is that you keep her distracted. Two of your men will be in Amsterdam tomorrow. Colonel Zhang Wu and Aaron Peel. Here is your plane ticket,” he hands her the ticket and a postcard, “They’re having lunch at the Golden Eye restaurant. Aaron Peel has booked the entire place, so it should be easy. Kill them and get home before Eve finds out you are gone.” 

Villanelle stands in the kitchen over two plates of overpriced pasta. She is at the Golden Eye restaurant, posing as a waitress. There are two other people here with her. A bald man named Howard and a mousy woman named Olga. Howard’s the cook and Olga is his assistant but Villanelle is pretty sure they’re having an affair.   
When they are distracted, she takes the small vial of poison out of her pocket and sprinkles it over their food. Then she grates some cheese over it so it doesn’t look out of place. She holds the plates with both hands as she exits through a set of double doors. There she sees her targets, the only two people in the entire dining room. They’re having a conversation but she is too far to hear what they’re saying and as she approaches, they cease all together.   
“I have two fettuccine’s,” she uses a french accent this round, one of her favorites to use. “Bon appetit.”   
The one man doesn’t even wait till she’s gone before he starts devouring his plate. So, she is there to see his eyes expand and his skin run pale. He grabs his throat and gasps for air. She smiles as his face hits the table, lifeless.   
“Very good,” the other man says, slowly applauding her in a mocking way. “I was trying to figure out how I’d do it myself but turns out I don’t have to. I know you were sent here to kill me, Oksana Astankova. Died in a Russian prison cell in 2014, but yet here you are.”   
Villanelle seethes in anger at the usage of her real name. She has to resort to plan B, which will be much more satisfying for this asshole. Her hands grab the knife in her pocket, “My name is Villanelle.” She lunges at him, gliding the blade across his throat. Blood shoots everywhere and she swears that she can see a smile on his face as he takes his last breath.   
She exits through the backdoor, already changed into a pink tracksuit so she can keep her head down. In the distance, she hears sirens blaring. She picks up speed as she hails a cab, taking her to the airport. Once she’s on the plane, she relaxes a little knowing her job is done.  
Eve is probably just arriving in Amsterdam, Villanelle thinks to herself. She checks the time on her watch, 11:13AM, wiping the tiny speck of blood away with the pad of her thumb. Last night, when she’d had dinner with Eve, she gave up the names of the two men she just killed. She told Eve that she went to Aaron Peel’s palazzo often and Colonel Zhang Wu always seemed to be there.   
It was a lie of course but it gave Eve something to bite on so Konstantin would stop pestering her. She heard Eve on the phone later in the room organizing the flight to Amsterdam. So, before Eve woke up, Villanelle locked her bedroom door and snuck out the window to get a head start. It worked to her advantage but the fact that one of them knew her name, made her very uncomfortable.  
Nobody has called her Oksana in years. Not since she got out of prison. It is a good thing that she killed him before her name got out. However, it makes her wonder how much other people know about her. 

Eve doesn’t arrive home until later in the evening. She has already made dinner, her favorite, shepherd’s pie. Villanelle wanted to wait till she got home to eat. Now, that she is here, they can finally enjoy each others company. She notices that something is up with Eve from the moment she enters the room.   
“Long day?” her question startles her from her place on the couch. Eve’s hair is tousled and her jacket is uneven.   
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Eve opens the fridge and takes out a bottle of wine. She pours herself a glass into a coffee mug.   
Villanelle gets up off the couch and joins her in the kitchen, where she takes the casserole out of the oven. “I made dinner,” she proudly shows it off, hoping that Eve will like it, “It’s one of my favorites.”   
“Great, I am starving.”   
She serves both their plates but notices Eve is too stressed to eat. Deciding to take this time to talk to her, she asks, “What happened?”   
Eve glances up at her, shaking her head, “If I tell you, it wouldn’t be safe. The less you know, the better.”   
“What if I want to take that chance?” she challenges.   
“I-I, can’t risk your safety. That’s what it most important to be right now.”   
She’s at a road block but she swerves around it, “Is it about those two men? Did something happen to them?”   
Eve sighs, looking up at her. She takes a sip of her wine, “They’re dead.”   
Villanelle pretends to look distraught, “Oh my word. Who is doing this?”   
“An assassin. Whoever she is working for knows we’re getting close to finding them. That’s why they had them and multiple others killed.”   
“It’s a she?”   
Eve nods, “A man isn’t capable of doing the things she has.”   
“Is that why I’m here? Because she’ll want to kill me, too?” Villanelle wants more. She wants to hear all about the horrible things she has done from Eve because from the sounds of it she is fascinated by it.   
“Yes and to tell you the truth they only want you to stay here so you can can feed us information. They’d have thrown you out of a safe house by now if it wasn’t for me but I don’t care what information you have, if everyone is going to turn up dead.”   
Villanelle remains calm, absorbing the information she just heard. She suddenly wonders why she is doing this. It seems that she is being played for a fool and they thought she wouldn’t find out. What happens when she has killed everyone? She just goes back to her normal killing ways? That seems unlikely. They’re planning something bigger.  
If there’s one thing that’s been made clear, it’s that her and Eve need to team up. That would mean revealing her identity to her but that is a risk she is willing to take when the time is right. Right now, she needs to continue to play her part in two games of chess.


	10. Eve : I Want It and I Shouldn't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve shows Billie her collection of kills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everybody!! this lovely chapter really steams things up a bit between these two. only one chapter left before they get down with the goods! hope y'all enjoy! please leave feedback if you do!

Eve hears a gentle rapping at her door late in the night, or early in the morning rather. It’s just a few minutes till four, according to the clock on her laptop. She’s up doing her reports, nearly finished with the last one. She sets her laptop to the side, going over to see who is at the door.   
She opens it to find Billie standing on the opposite side. Eve catches her just as she’s about to turn away, “Hey, everything okay?”   
Billie wraps her arms around herself, “Can’t sleep. I heard you in here talking to yourself and thought we both could do with some company.” Eve glances behind her at her report, the one that needs to be done by morning or else Carolyn will give her desk duty for the next week. Not that she minds anymore. “If you’re busy, I can leave you be.”   
“No,” Eve quickly protests before Billie can finish her sentence, “Come in, please.”   
She holds the door open for Billie, shutting it behind her as soon as she’s inside. The woman strides across the room, studying Eve’s possessions. She doesn’t say anything and her face remains unreadable. If only she could get inside her brain, just for a day, Eve thinks to herself.   
Billie is mysterious and pays attention to details. When Eve mentions a food dish she enjoyed once, it’s on the dinner table the next day. Or how she helps Eve pick out outfits when she can’t decide what to wear and somehow looks better than she ever has in her forty years of living. Sometimes, it’s the minuscule comments about her hair or smile. It’s very flattering and truthfully, she doesn’t think anyone has noticed her in that way in years.   
The bed creaks as Billie puts her body weight on it, sitting at the bottom, near the edge. She crosses her legs and fiddles with a loose thread on Eve’s sham. Eve joins her and sets her laptop on her lap.   
“What are you working on?” Billie shifts so she is lain on her side, arm propped up on her head. Her hair falls behind her and Eve takes a brief moment to study her features. She has soft skin that she doesn’t even need to touch to know. Her eyes sparkle in the dainty light of her lamp, revealing green specks in her grey eyes.   
Part of Eve asks her why she didn’t do this before; taking the time to study her for all that she is. Another part of her knows why she didn’t; because she has been attracted to Billie since the first time she laid eyes on her. She didn’t want to prey on her vulnerability so she suppressed those thoughts. Now, she finds it increasingly difficult to do such. She has told Billie things that she hadn’t even admitted to herself, feeling a connection to her she’s never experienced.   
Billie never even flinched when Eve told her she’s thought about killing people and wants to know what the sensation is like. She worded in a round a bout way of course, but it was nonetheless an admittance. In some ways, she thinks Billie is the same. Maybe not a killer but she has that darkness to her that Eve has.   
Eve wants to devour her. Not in a sexual way but spiritually. For her darkness and Billie’s darkness to become one. To be guided and accepted for the first time in her life. She craved it.   
She snaps back, stammering, “Just working on a report.”   
“Can I see?”   
“I’m not sure, if you want to,” Eve felt Billie’s eyes bore into her. She felt like the vulnerable one now. Like all of her hidden secrets were laid out on display for her to see. Not that she honestly minded. “The stuff is a bit gruesome.”   
“I can handle it. I’ve seen a lot of blood shed.”   
The work side of Eve wants to push for more when she says she’s seen a lot of blood, but pretends like she didn’t hear it. She turns her computer around so it’s in Billie’s eyesight. The woman raises an eyebrow slightly, scrolling through crime scene photos. She doesn’t recoil in disgust or horror. It’s interesting to observe her, to see her face start to show emotion but quickly turning back to stillness.   
“Did she do this?” Billie asks, pointing at one of the more explicit photos.   
Eve turns her head to see a close up of Aaron Peel, his throat slashed and smile across his face. It unnerved her to even look at it and this is what she did for a living. “She did yes.”  
“Seems like this guy enjoyed it,” Billie lets Eve have her computer back, “How long have you been investigating her?”   
“Almost three years,” Eve pulls up her personal files and opens one that has everything about her assassin in it. “I noticed her after a series of high profile men were found dead after being killed in an extreme fashion.”   
“Did you always know it was a woman?”   
“Yes,” Eve runs a hand through her hair, “There’s no way that a man has the level of intelligence to kill like she does. They are very quick and clean, she likes blood. Almost like she wants to be noticed.”   
Billie smirks, “I think we all want to be noticed.”   
“Not like her. I think something happened to her growing up. Maybe she didn’t get enough attention or she was abused, or both. She’s overcompensating her kills for praise, money, love. I think she thinks by killing people, it will make her desire for those things dissolve.”   
There’s a pause between them but Billie scoots a bit closer to Eve, “Can I tell you something?”   
“Of course, anything.”   
“Do you remember when I told you about the woman I was with?”   
“I do, yeah.”   
Billie takes in a deep breath, “Well, she was my schoolteacher. She taught language at the academy. I was her prize student, best grades in the class. We would eat lunch together in her room and she would sometimes invite me over to her house for extra lessons. I never thought much about it until one day when she kissed me,” Billie pauses and continues, “It took me by wild surprise but I can’t lie and say I didn’t want it too. I was young and naive, and who doesn’t love when a hot teacher crushes on you?”   
This angered Eve beyond mention. How dare this teacher take advantage of a student and still live another day? She hoped that her teaching status was revoked. “That was not okay for her to do to you, Billie. She knew better and took advantage of you.”   
“I know that now. It took me a long time to understand it but I do. She tried to ruin my life, wanting me to be with her forever, telling me she would leave her husband for me. That never happened. She gave me everything and took it back when I didn’t do what she wanted.”   
“Is she still around?” Eve wants to know so she can find her and give her a piece of her mind herself.   
Billie shakes her head, “No, the school found out about us shortly after. They threatened to have charges pressed so she fled. I don’t know where she is now. Hopefully in a ditch somewhere.”   
Her last comment makes Eve ask her, “Why do you hope that?”   
“People like her don’t deserve to live.”   
Eve agreed but she pressed for more, “Do you feel it, too?” She thought Billie would ask what, after but she didn’t. Instead she softly answered, “Yes.”   
Her heart is pounding and her stomach twists with excitement. She wants more, she needs more, but Billie sits up and inches closer to her. All while her heartbeat gets faster and louder. She knows Billie can hear it, she wants her to hear it.   
Billie stops and shifts, throwing her leg over Eve’s torso so she is sat in her lap. They are touching and god, Eve wants more. She wants so much more. Their eyes meet and Billie smiles beautifully. Eve is positive she feels a tear run down her face but fear wipes it away. She has never felt more alive in her life than she does right now with Billie.   
“I like you, a lot, Eve,” Billie admits, gently grabbing her hands and caressing them. She maintains eye contact the entire time, “I could fall in love with someone like you.”   
Please do, Eve wants to say. She swallows thickly, “I think I already might be.”   
Her eyes go glossy with lust and desire. She opens her mouth slightly, biting her bottom lip. Billie, still holding her by the hands, pushes her back on the bed so she is hovering over Eve. She thinks she’s having a heart attack, oh god, she is definitely having one. Her chest hurts and her breathing is heavy. Billie seems to enjoy this, chuckling a little, “Relax. I am not going to hurt you.” Eve doesn’t have time to respond before supple lips are pressed against hers. She melts into them so easily that she’s pretty sure a little bit of her soul left her body. They’re warm and soft, more perfect than she imagined they would be. She pushes up into the kiss, deepening it, wrapping a hand around Billie’s arm for balance.   
Billie takes her bottom lip into her mouth, suckling softly, before releasing. Why did she stop? Eve gasps for air and tries to reach for her lips again but Billie pulls back. Within a moment, she’s gone before Eve has time to blink. Disappearing like a ghost into the night. 

In the morning, she’s greeted by Billie who joins her a little after the sun comes up. Eve didn’t sleep for the rest of the night, unable to turn her brain off. She still doesn’t know what the hell happened. One minute they were kissing and god, it was glorious. The next, Eve felt the need to take a cold shower.   
“Good morning,” Billie chimes happily.   
“Aren’t we going to talk about what happened last night?” Eve says, getting straight to the point. She doesn’t want any bullshit.   
Billie takes in a deep breath and holds herself against the kitchen counter. Her face is turned away from Eve’s so she can’t see what the woman is thinking. “Look,” Billie turns and faces her, “I’m not who you think I am.”   
Eve chuckles, “As if any of us are?”   
The other woman shakes her head, pushing her tongue to the side of her mouth like she’s slightly annoyed, “Nobody is ever who they say they are but being with me is dangerous. I would put you in danger.”   
“I am aware of the risks.”   
“Eve, please,” Billie pleads, “Listen to what I am telling you. It’s much deeper than that.”   
Eve feels lost. Like there is a puzzle piece missing that didn’t come in the box, “What is it that puts me in so much danger?”   
Billie looks like she is about to cry but is able to hold it back, “I can’t tell you right now. That’s why if you want to be with me you need to understand that. I care for you and I know you care about me. I don’t want you to get involved with me unless you accept that there’s things you may find out about me that could have you hurt, or worse.”   
Eve steps forward, taking Billie’s hands in hers, brown eyes looking into grey ones, “Those are risks I’m willing to take. Nothing scares me anymore.”  
“Please don’t break my heart,” Billie releases one of her hands and threads it through Eve’s curls, wrapping a soft hand behind her neck. She pulls Eve close, so close that she can feel Billie’s breath down her neck. God, what has she gotten herself into?


	11. Villanelle : Killer in Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve and Villanelle finally show their feelings for one another. Villanelle shows her softer side to Eve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the chapter yall have been waiting for! soft! villanelle rise!! enjoy and leave feedback if you do :)

“I’ll give you everything,” Eve says with a shaky breath.  
Villanelle smirks, slamming her lips into Eve’s. It’s rough but the touch of Eve’s hands on her hips make her forget all things logic. Her fingers dig into her curls as she deepens the kiss, slipping her tongue inside. Eve sighs under her and melts into her.  
She breaks away from their kiss and moves her lips down to her neck, suckling softly. Villanelle wants to mark her, to say, you’re mine. She resists that urge for now, peppering more kisses against her jaw. Eve’s eyes are shut in pleasure which excites her. She moves down further, continuing to press kisses into her lover’s skin.  
Her fingers unbutton Eve’s shirt skillfully. Villanelle is surprised when Eve’s shirt falls open to find her breasts on full display. “Oh,” she says sheepishly.  
“I couldn’t find it this morning,” Eve blushes. She’s embarrassed but Villanelle is quick to reassure her.  
“That’s alright.”  
Villanelle runs her hand over her smooth skin, cupping Eve’s small breasts. She squeezes them softly making Eve sigh again. Oh, how she loves that sound. It makes her want to do crazy things. She slides her hands under Eve, digging into the muscle of her back as she dips her head down.  
She covers Eve in kisses. Starting from her collarbone, she drags her tongue across the protruding expanse. Stopping to peck at the crook of her neck. Villanelle uses her teeth to glide down further. Eve wriggles underneath her, groaning.  
Eve’s pleasure makes Villanelle let out a breathy moan. She bucks her hips up into hers as she takes a nipple into her mouth. Suckling lightly then bringing it between her teeth. It evokes a moan from Eve and her hands grab at Villanelle’s shirt, tugging it upwards.  
“This needs to go,” Eve manages to say through pants. Villanelle sits up on Eve’s lap and let’s the woman unbutton her top.  
Eve pushes herself up as well so they are at eye level. She takes her time doing it and Villanelle feels as if her heart is going to explode. She has slept with many people but she was never really with them. With Eve, she’s nervous that she may not like what she sees. She knows that she is beautiful but she wants Eve to think that, too.  
Her shirt drops onto the bed and she’s left in her bra. Eve bites her lip and moves her hand to her back, unclasping it and letting it fall between them. She takes in a breath, bringing her hands back around to the front of her and lets them travel over Villanelle’s body.  
“What is this?” Eve places her hand exactly where she thought she would. The scar right above her left hip where she survived being stabbed in a prison fight. She is normally very proud of it but is feeling vulnerable with Eve. “What happened?”  
“It’s nothing I want to talk about,” Villanelle says, short and simple. She places a few kisses on Eve’s temple and then on her cheek.  
“You’re beautiful, so precious,” Eve reassures her as her hands move up her body. “Like an angel.”  
She becomes possessed by something otherworldly then. The way Eve slides her hands across her belly to cup her breasts. She revels in the way it feels. Like electricity shooting through her body. Eve leans forwards and touches her lips to Villanelle’s chest. She is not afraid to leave marks and does. Several in fact, all over her collarbones and neck.  
Their lips meet again and fire burns through them. They simply can’t get close enough to each other. Bare skin colliding and sweat trickling down their spines. Tongues intertwined and moans shared between them. Villanelle tugs at Eve’s hair whilst Eve’s hands rest on Villanelle’s hips.  
Something feral awakens in Villanelle as she pushes Eve back down on the bed. She pins the woman’s hands next to her, leaving her breathless. Eve’s eyes are glossy with desire. God, she is beautiful. She has seen a lot of beautiful women but Eve holds the number one spot.  
She slides her body downwards and begins to unbutton Eve’s pants. Her hands shake slightly but she’s able to nervously pull them off. Villanelle is in awe by what she sees. “God, you’re sexy,” Villanelle grabs Eve’s legs and wraps them around her hips, leaning over her again.  
Villanelle props herself up with one arm, while her other runs along Eve’s thighs. The other woman is trembling and she meets her eyes. They beg for release and who is Villanelle to deny her lover? Her hand snakes up till it meets the waistband of Eve’s underwear, which she literally tears off. She shifts and slowly slides a single finger into Eve’s warm heat.  
Eve moans loudly and Villanelle quickly adds a second finger. She positions herself so she can thrust her hips into Eve’s, moving her hand steadily against her. Villanelle curls her fingers upwards, massaging her walls softly. She gets lost in the sounds Eve is making, craving more.  
She picks up the pace, thrusting a little faster and rougher which makes Eve cry out. Her lover is on the edge of total ecstasy. Villanelle smirks, suddenly pulling away from Eve. She brings her fingers to her lips and sucks Eve’s fluids from them.  
“Billie,” a tear runs down Eve’s face as she tries to bring her hand back to where she needs it most.  
“My name is Villanelle,” she spreads Eve’s legs with her torso. “I want you to say it.”  
Before Eve has time to respond, Villanelle dips her head down and buries it in her lovers warmth. She drags her tongue languidly across her opening and swirling back again. Eve grabs a fist full of Villanelle’s hair, pulling it hard enough to be painful but she likes it. She firmly presses Eve’s hips into the bed as she grinds her tongue into that spot Villanelle deliciously worships.  
“Oh God, Villanelle,” Eve cries in pleasure.  
Within moments, Eve comes hard, screwing her eyes shut and writhing. Villanelle watches this, taking pride in her work. She returns to Eve’s side, propping herself up with an elbow. She rests her hand on Eve’s chest, listening to the rise and fall of her breathing as she comes back down to earth.  
They don’t speak for a few minutes, processing the sheer sensation they both just experienced. Villanelle is positive that it’s the best sex either of them have ever had. Eve breaks her train of thought when she shifts so they’re facing each other. Her hand gently pushes Villanelle so she’s on her back and slowly winds down to the waistband of her pants.  
“I want to take care of you,” Eve purrs in her ear, pushing her hair back and planting kisses on her forehead. Villanelle hears the button of her pants snap open and she feels Eve unzip them. She closes her eyes to keep her from crying as she grabs Eve’s hand to make her stop.  
“No,” Villanelle states softly. It’s not that she doesn’t want Eve to do it because she wants it so badly, she can hardly stand it. The throb keeps getting worse but she can’t let herself lose control. She’s never let anyone touch her since Anna’s betrayal. So if she’s going to let Eve love her properly, she will need time. She doesn’t want to show her true emotions and vulnerability, just to turn around and be stabbed in the back. Once that seal is broken, it can’t be fixed and she’s not ready for that. “I’m not ready.”  
Eve doesn’t question anything. She instead moves her hand so it’s wrapped around Villanelle and she asks, “What do you need from me?”  
Everything, she wants to say but instead says, “I want you to hold me.”  
“I can do that,” Eve smiles, throwing a blanket over Villanelle and pulls her into her tightly.  
She rests her head on Eve’s chest and it doesn’t take a second for the tears to come pouring. It’s loud and ugly and she hates it but it won’t stop. Villanelle grips tightly to Eve as her lover runs her hands through her blonde hair, soothing her. She hates herself for not being able to give herself to Eve the way she wants to. Eve doesn’t ask questions but she wants to say, ‘nobody’s ever truly loved me before and I’m overwhelmed by it.’  
“I’ve never had this before,” she says instead, using the corner of Eve’s blanket to wipe tears away.  
“I know, darling,” Eve presses a kiss to the top of her head, “I’ll prove to you that I won’t hurt you.”  
That was all Villanelle needed in the world. She smiles and relaxes into her lovers arms. They share soft and brief kisses, laughing and smiling between them. She feels normal and happy with Eve by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @ kissvillanelle for all things KE :)


	12. Eve : Out in the Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve and Villanelle go for a walk in the park and then some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall!! have some more smut!! also enjoy the softness between these two because villanelle is gonna be going through it next chapter :( leave feedback if yall like it!!

“So, your name is Villanelle?” Eve states as the two women stroll through the streets of London. It was nearly nighttime but not quite there yet. The sun slowly winding it’s way down as the sky changed from pinks and purples to oranges and yellows.   
They know they shouldn’t be out like this as it’s dangerous for both of them but Villanelle had suggested they go out and do something romantic. Eve argued at first but agreed that the idea sounded nice. So, they snuck out the back of Eve’s house and are making their way to Regent’s Park. The park is beautiful this time of night and Eve couldn’t think of any place better for them to spend time together.   
“It was my mother’s favorite perfume,” Villanelle replies, “She wore it everywhere she went. It actually started as an inside joke between my parents that she loved the perfume so much, she’d name her child after it.”   
“That’s sweet,” Eve admires the scenery around her. She’d lived in London a long time but somehow, she saw it in a new night being with Villanelle. “Why Billie?”   
“I wanted to start over, I suppose, after everything. But I didn’t expect you. The closer we got, the more I wanted to be honest about everything. There’s still some things you can’t know, not until the time is right.”   
“I understand,” Eve deeply wants to know what those things are but she knows if she tries to pry them from Villanelle, she’ll never get the answers she wants. “I have a secret to tell you.”   
“What’s that?”   
“I don’t really want to do this job anymore,” Eve says with one breath.   
“Because of me?”  
“No,” Eve shrugs, “Because of me. I took the job at MI6 thinking it would be different than my desk job at MI5, but the excitement has died down. That’s why I wanted to catch this assassin so badly, because she lives her life with no care in the world and I just want to know how she does it. Frankly, she can kill whoever the hell she wants for all I care, as long as it’s not me.”   
Villanelle chuckles, “Do you still want to catch her?”   
“Not really,” Eve looks up at Villanelle, who’s staring at her with this protective gleam in her eye, “I think I’d rather spend time with you.”   
They arrive at the park and they’re immediately surrounded by millions of blooming flowers. Villanelle’s face lights up like a child as she runs to them, plucking a few of the red ones off their bush. She inspects it for bugs and places one in Eve’s hair and the other in hers. Eve admires her lovingly, not believing that Villanelle is actually real.   
Eve hadn’t really thought about being with someone ever again after Niko died. She wanted someone to sleep with at night, sure, but she didn’t want to invite someone into the home she’d made for herself. That notion obviously didn’t include Villanelle. Mainly because she wasn’t expecting someone as beautiful and seductive as her but also someone who understood her.   
She didn’t want to explain how she thinks about killing people but would never actually do it. Rather, just wanting to try it once to see how it feels. Nobody in their right mind would stick around after hearing that. So, it was easier if she just kept to herself.   
Now everything was out in the open with Villanelle and she can’t keep those thoughts hidden anymore. It made things easier knowing that they shared that darkness in some way. In other ways, she wondered how far the extent of it went. She’d worry about that later though. Right now, she wants to enjoy her time with Villanelle as they wander through the park.   
“I’ve always wanted to feel like this,” Villanelle comments as she reaches down for Eve’s hand.   
“Happy?” Eve brings their clasped hands to her mouth, placing a kiss to the back of Villanelle’s hand.   
“That,” she blushes, “and normal. I’ve never felt normal.”   
“There’s not much excitement in being normal. I’ve been living it for forty years.”   
“I don’t think you’re like that,” Villanelle finds a patch of grass by the pond so they can sit. “You only thought you were.”   
“What makes you say that?”   
“The fact that you’re sitting here with me,” Villanelle pulls a patch of grass up and breaks each blade into tiny pieces. “I think if I told anyone else what I told you after what I’ve been through, they would’ve had me locked up in a mental asylum. Let alone kiss and have sex with me.”   
Eve blushes hotly, “Well, it’s not conventional.”  
“No,” she laughs brightly. They sit in silence for a minute, then she asks, “What are we going to do when they don’t need me anymore?”   
“Well,” Eve pulls her legs up to her chest, “You’re welcome to stay with me. You don’t have to go anywhere.”   
“What about your job?”   
“I don’t think I’ll have one after this. So, it’ll be fair game for both of us.”   
“You’re really serious? About being together?”   
“Yes,” Eve glances sideways at her, like she was crazy for even asking, “I thought I made that obvious earlier.”   
“You did,” Villanelle shifts so she’s face to face with Eve, “I just like hearing you say it.”   
“You like to be reassured a lot,” Eve realizes the awful truth of what she just said, “I’m sorry, that was a really dick thing to say.”   
“No it’s okay. There’s no sense in hiding the truth,” Villanelle tries to hide the hurt on her face but it’s no use.   
Eve slides forward to cup Villanelle’s face in her hand, “It wasn’t okay for me to say that. I love you and I’d never do anything to hurt you like that. I wasn’t thinking and-“   
“You love me?” Villanelle interrupts, her eyes lighting up like Christmas lights.   
Eve sheepishly nods, “I do, yeah.”   
Villanelle gleams from ear to ear, clashing their lips together for a brief kiss, “I love you.”   
“You do?”   
“Yes,” she nods, “I really do.” 

Clothes fly across the room as soon as the front door shuts behind them. Eve is pushed up against the door by Villanelle, who’s lips are glued to hers. She feels her pulse all over her body, weakening her legs so Eve hitches a leg over Villanelle’s hips for support. The other woman smirks wildly, bending down to grab Eve’s thighs, wrapping them around her waist totally.   
Villanelle runs her hands over Eve’s pants to cup her bottom. “We should go upstairs before I break this door down,” she says seductively. She doesn’t even blink as she carries Eve up the stairs in one swift motion.   
Once upstairs, Eve is thrown roughly onto the bed. Villanelle quickly rips her pants off and climbs atop of her. Eve’s breathless from the way this angelic woman looks at her as she slides herself into her warmth, knowing that she has her all to herself.   
Villanelle suddenly stops and stands from the bed. Eve thinks she’s leaving and tries to reach out to her before she realizes what she’s doing. Villanelle starts to undress herself as Eve silently watches. She’s wearing a plaid short sleeve blouse with darker matching pants. The top is first to go leaving her lover in a lace black bra.  
Eve shifts up on the bed so she’s slightly sitting up for a better view. As Villanelle works on unbuttoning her pants, Eve slowly slides her hand down till she finds her entrance. Her arousal covers her fingers as she circles her clit. She moans loudly as Villanelle pushes her pants off, revealing toned pale, freckled legs. God, she’s beautiful and all mine.   
She quickens her pace, putting more pressure where she needs it as Villanelle reaches up and unbuttons her bra. Eve has seen Villanelle’s breasts before but seeing them now pushes her close to the edge. They’re perfectly rounded and gorgeous. She comes hard as the other woman takes her underwear off, revealing her femininity.   
Villanelle climbs back in bed, watching Eve as she comes back down to earth. She brushes her hand over her face, “You’re so beautiful Eve,” she whispers, “I want you to touch me like that.”   
“I thought you weren’t ready?” Eve would never want to touch her lover without permission first and Villanelle told her earlier she wasn’t ready yet.   
“I am ready now,” Villanelle takes Eve’s hand and places it on her chest.   
Eve nods, understanding. She didn’t have a clue on what she was doing, though. She knew what she likes and dislikes so she’d start there she supposed. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” Eve admits softly.   
“Just do what you think feels good to you,” Villanelle advises her, “I can help guide you, if you need.”   
Eve shifts so she is atop of Villanelle. She removes her top, then her bra so they are both equally nude. A sigh escapes her as she leans her body into Villanelle’s, feeling their hot skin touch. She brings them in for a passionate kiss, tongues melting into each other tenderly.   
She breaks away and moves her mouth downwards, connecting her lips to marks she left earlier. She runs her tongue over them gently to soothe them. Villanelle squirms under her, biting her lip to keep from making any noise. Eve takes note of that and slides further towards, taking one of her lover’s nipples between her teeth. That evokes a small grunt from Villanelle as she grips the sheet with her fists.   
Her hands glide over her lover’s smooth skin, caressing her lightly. Eve loves what she is doing to Villanelle. She can tell that the other woman is trying to hard to keep herself at bay but the way she’s writhing under her, tells another story. Eve dips her head down to smother Villanelle’s body in kisses. Every inch of her is like a goddess and she should be worshipped as such.   
Eve moves further down so she is almost face to face to where Villanelle needs her most. She runs her hands over her lover’s legs, hitching one up in the air as she peppers kisses to the sensitive skin inside. Villanelle screws her eyes shut in pleasure as Eve’s mouth gets closer to her center. She lets the other woman’s leg back down on the bed, positioning herself above her.   
Villanelle releases her grip on the sheets and clings to Eve, digging her nails into her back as she pushes two fingers inside her. Eve moves slowly but quickly gains speed. She settles at a constant pace, stretching her fingers out, then bringing them back together. Villanelle cries out, “Fuck, Eve.”   
She rubs Villanelle’s clit slowly with the pad of her thumb as she gains speed with her fingers. Eve feels her lover’s nails dig deeper into her back as she whimpers softly underneath her. She’s close. Eve circles her thumb over the spot she needs her most and that’s enough to send Villanelle spiraling over the edge.   
Eve holds her fingers inside as she feels Villanelle’s wall contracting against them, pulling them out slowly once the spasming ceases. Villanelle looks at her lustfully and brings Eve’s fingers to her mouth, licking them clean. It leaves Eve speechless, but god, it’s incredibly sexy. She lays on her stomach next to her lover, breathless. They can go at this all night but she wants to rest for a little bit first.   
“I’m sorry about your back,” Villanelle says.   
“What?” Eve lifts her head and looks over her shoulder to see bright red nail marks. Oh goodness.   
“You were really amazing.”   
“I’d like to see you do better,” Eve shoots back sarcastically.   
“Is that a challenge?” Villanelle raises an eyebrow as she flips Eve over on her back.   
“It definitely is.”


	13. Villanelle : Open Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villanelle makes a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello all you lovely people!! i hope that if you're reading this that you're enjoying the story as this chapter is about to be a doozy! TW: for some violence in this one. 
> 
> leave feedback if you enjoy :)

A bang comes from the door, jolting Villanelle awake from her spot in Eve’s bed. Eve had gone to work first thing this morning so she was able to sleep in after their long night of sex. Villanelle sits up, rubbing her eyes free of crust. She curses to herself and pushes herself from the bed, dressing quickly and padding her way downstairs. She loses her balance for a brief second after getting up too quickly but ignores it and continues on.  
Villanelle opens the door to find Konstantin standing there. She should’ve guessed. “You are the worst.”   
“What are you doing?” Konstantin pushes Villanelle into the wall, holding an arm to her throat. “Why are you not doing your job?”   
“I am doing my job!” Villanelle seethes.   
“Eve is not your job,” Konstantin pushes slightly on her love bite covered chest, making her breathing strain a little, “Don’t think that they didn’t see you two together last night during your stroll through London.”   
“I like her. She likes me,” Villanelle smirks devilishly, “We are the same.”   
Konstantin lets go of her, shaking his head, “Do you think you two can be together after the job is done? You know you are not allowed to have partners, that was part of the deal.”   
Villanelle gets in his face, “I will follow her everywhere I go. You will not keep me from her.”   
“Does she really mean that much to you?” Konstantin asks, “Does she even know who you really are?”   
“We’ve talked about it,” Villanelle states sharply. “I’d like for you to leave now.”   
“Not before I give you this,” he produces a postcard from his jacket pocket, “This is Raymond and he’ll be in Paris tomorrow. After this you’ll be one step closer to going back to normal.”   
He opens the door and Villanelle furiously slams it behind him. Glasses in the kitchen clatter and she’s pretty sure something upstairs fell and broke. She needs to figure out a way for them to both get out of this. She will do whatever it takes to make sure Eve is safe with her. 

Paris rains more than Villanelle remembers as she hides behind a bush. She’s hiding in Raymond’s yard, waiting for him to come out of his house. Frankly, she has zero patience for this but she wants to be quiet with this kill. She does not want it to hit Eve’s radar. However, she is soaking wet and starting to shiver so she is getting more annoyed by the second.   
Luckily for her though, Raymond exits his house finally and she’s able to do what she came here for. She waits a few moments until he’s past and she jumps out behind him. Villanelle grabs him by the neck and grips him tightly. She uses the length of her forearm to crush his windpipe, listening to the sweet sounds of his breaths die out.   
His body drops to the ground lifeless. He is an ugly man, no wonder why they want him dead. He surely won’t be missed by anyone. Not even his wife and kids that stare at her through the window. Villanelle rolls her eyes and throws them the finger as she walks away. 

London also rains a lot. After killing Raymond, Eve and Villanelle were having a movie night until a surprise thunderstorm came rolling through and knocked the power out. Eve lit a few candles so they could see where they were walking.   
“There’s a back-up generator in the basement,” Eve hands Villanelle a candlestick, “If you get it started, it’ll at least turn some of the lights back on.”   
Villanelle does as she’s asked and heads into the basement. It’s small, dark, and a little eerie. There’s not much space, mainly just some extra cupboards and some boxes in the corner. She sees the breaker box on the wall where the generator lays right under it. Villanelle sets the candle down on the ground as she fiddles with the generator.   
It flips on and lights flicker in the air for a moment before they burst into life. She blows her candle out but before she heads back upstairs to Eve, she feels a pull. As curiosity gets the best of her. Villanelle sidles up to the boxes that are stacked in the corner. She opens one of the boxes on top and finds a bunch of papers and a few photo albums.   
She takes one of the albums out and flips it open. No. No, no, no, no, no. It can’t be. Villanelle’s heart sinks to her feet and she drops the album on the basement floor. A photo of Eve’s husband, front and center of the page. She could never forget that mustache. She feels sick to her stomach, disgusted.   
“Villanelle, is everything alright down there?” Eve hollers down the stairs at her. Eve can’t know what she did. She would absolutely despise her. Villanelle quickly picks up the photo album and places it back in the box before heading back up the stairs. “Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost?”   
She nods her head, “I’m fine but I think I’m going to take a shower.”   
As soon as she’s out of Eve’s sight, she dashes into the bathroom and hurls into the toilet. Her belly twists in knots and her heart is pounding so fast it hurts. She manages to turn the water on in the shower and slips out of her clothes. She’s weak on her legs and uses the side bar in Eve’s shower for support.   
God, how could she be so evil? Killing an innocent man for no other reason besides being told to? She loathes it. How many innocent people has she killed? Maybe all of these people have been innocent. No other crime than knowing the wrong people.   
Pain vibrates through her temple. She presses her fingers between the bridge of her nose to stifle it. The lights above her flicker on and off and her vision doubles. Her legs give out from under her as she slips on the porcelain. She clammers to the ground, hitting her head on the side of the tub as she goes.   
Everything is numb briefly, nothing hurts, it’s blissful. She smiles as Eve bursts into the bathroom but she’s only half there. “Oh my God,” Eve sounds muffled so she’s not sure if she’s hearing right when she says, “You’re bleeding.” Either way it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t hurt!   
She laughs manically as Eve pulls her from the shower, wrapping a towel around her. Eve leads her to the bedroom and sets her on the bed. Her head feels light and she nearly topples over but Eve, her sweet, wonderful Eve, catches her and leans her back on the bed. She brings clothes over and dresses Villanelle quickly.   
Eve disappears for a few moments and returns with a small white box. Did she bring chocolates? The other woman opens the box and applies something to a piece of cotton and places it on her forehead. It is not chocolate. In fact, it burns so much that it snaps her out of her haze.   
“Fuck!” she screams out, tears streaming down her face. Her entire body aches now, not just her head.   
“You’re running a fever,” Eve speaks softly as she applies ointment to her head, “We should take you to the doctor.”   
“No! I am not going to no shitty doctor,” she’s pretty sure she let her Russian accent slip up but if Eve noticed, she didn’t say anything.   
“You need to have your head looked at, it could get infected.”   
“Please, Eve, I will be okay,” Villanelle coughs and sharp pains shoot through her veins. She winces and turns on her side. The pain goes away a little but quickly comes back.   
Eve sighs, “I will look after you but the second you get worse, we’re going to the hospital.”   
Villanelle blanks out, barely hearing any of what Eve just said. She stares at the ceiling and closes her eyes briefly. When she wakes up, she’s in her prison cell in Russia. She jolts upwards and sees that she’s no longer wearing the pajamas Eve dressed her in but a prison uniform.   
Looking around the room, Villanelle sees that the door to her prison cell is open. She cautiously steps out but stops when something squishes under her foot. It’s blood and there’s a lot of it. There’s a trail and it leads somewhere beyond her eyesight. She decides to follow it to see where it leads to.   
As she walks, the trail grows bigger and bigger. When it stops, Villanelle rounds a corner and sees a woman with her back turned. Her hair is honey blonde and pulled back with a bandana. It’s her, she realizes. She holds a shiv in her hand that’s covered in blood.   
“You did this to her,” the other version of her says in a low, sinister voice. She steps to the side and reveals Eve’s body laying lifeless on the floor.   
“What did you do to her?” Villanelle runs to Eve, seeing that her neck has been sliced ear to ear. “Why would you do that!”   
“You did it, Oksana,” the evil voice mocks, “You loved her so much that you killed her.”   
“I’d never hurt her,” Villanelle cries, frantically grabbing at her lovers dead body.   
“But you did, didn’t you? When you killed her husband that warm summer night in Poland. She never forgave you for it. In fact, she despised you.”   
“They told me to do it, I didn’t know he was innocent!” Villanelle’s head is spinning, “I’m sorry.”   
“Do you wanna know what she said before you slit her throat? She called you a heartless monster. Incapable of anything other than destruction.”   
She shakes her head, “No. No. She’d never say those things to me. She loved me!”   
“She hated you. She just never had the heart to tell you. Guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?”   
“There she is!” A guard shouts down the corridor, running towards her at the speed of lightning.   
Villanelle turns and the other version of her has disappeared and the shiv is now in her hand. Blood soaks her uniform from where she held Eve’s lifeless body in her arms. “I didn’t do it,” she says to herself softly. Her hands are shaking so badly, she drops the weapon on the floor.   
“Get up! Get on your knees!” the guard screams at her, hitting her in the back of the head with their bobby stick.   
“I didn’t do it,” she says louder this time.   
They ignore her however and she feels another wack, followed by another. She’s knocked down and curls into the fetal position. Please let this be a dream, please, please, please. Eve, please where are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me over on tumblr @ kissvillanelle , for all things KE :)


	14. Eve : Chicken Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve takes care of Villanelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello yall!! got another chapter of this story up for you guys!! this chapter is alternatively titled : 1000 ways to say i love you without using those 3 words. hope you lovelies enjoy!!! :)

Villanelle screams when she awakes, jolting forward on the couch violently. Eve is sitting in the chair across from her in the living room. She’s been out of it for two days, waking up long enough to use the bathroom and come downstairs. Eve has been keeping her hydrated with small sips of water but fever still radiated her body. She coughs and complains of a sore throat but doesn’t stay awake long enough to take her to the hospital.   
The gash on her head is starting to look a little better as Eve cleans and dresses the wound every six hours. She’s worried for Villanelle. Eve has never seen anyone this sick before. Not even the time she got the flu. She can tell that this is different, though.   
Eve rushes over to her now, sitting on the side of the couch. It’s soaked with sweat, “Hey, I’m here.”   
“Where am I?” Villanelle looks around her frantically, grasping for Eve’s arms, “Eve.”   
“You’re in the living room. You’ve been asleep for two days with a fever.”   
Villanelle feels her head, “I’ve got such a headache. Is there any water?”   
“Here,” Eve quickly hands her a water bottle. She touches the back of her hand to Villanelle’s head. It’s still warm but not as bad as it was last night. “You had me so worried. I was ready to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital.”   
“Have you stayed by me the entire time?”   
“Of course. I’d never leave you.”   
Villanelle shakes her head and lays back down, “God, I’m tired. I feel like I haven’t slept in ages.”  
“Why don’t you go back to sleep for a while?” Eve suggests, “Maybe you’ll feel better in a couple hours.”   
“No. I had the worst dreams. I can’t take any more of them.”   
Eve bites her lip to stifle wanting to ask what the dreams were about. Instead she asks, “Are you hungry? I can make some chicken soup?”   
“That’d be nice,” Villanelle smiles weakly.   
When Eve returns to the living room, Villanelle is sitting up on the couch. Her clothes stick to her from the sweat. She hands Villanelle the bowl of soup, which the woman gratefully takes. Eve doesn’t want to feel like she’s hovering but she’s definitely doing just that.   
“Would you like to watch some TV? A movie?”   
“Are there any cartoons?” Villanelle asks as she blows on her hot soup.   
“Uh,” Eve flips the TV on and searches through the guide. “There’s teletubbies. If you want to watch that?”   
“That’s fine,” Villanelle nods as Eve switches it on.   
Villanelle giggles at the show at one of the characters. The giant red creature thing falls down a hill and loses it’s memory so it starts acting funny. If Eve is even following it right. She keeps her eyes on Villanelle to make sure she is okay.   
Eve loves her more than she thought a person could ever love someone. Seeing her sick and weak like this troubles her mind. She thinks she would die if something ever happened to Villanelle. So she’ll do anything to take care of her.   
Today is also the anniversary of Niko’s death but it’s honestly the last thing on her mind. He deserved someone who’d be in bed crying and grieving over him right now instead of watching an adult woman watch teletubbies. He deserved someone that wasn’t her. Sometimes she wishes she could go back in time so they’d never met and he could’ve had someone who truly loved him.   
If she felt like it later, she’d go downstairs and go through some of their photo albums. Though, she’d be lying to herself if she said she wanted to. Truthfully, she cares for Villanelle so much that she’s willing to move forward and just forget about Niko totally. It made her feel like an awful human being for even having those thoughts for someone she’d been with for nearly fifteen years. However, he held her back when he was alive and she isn’t going to continue to let that happen now. Despite what happened to Niko, it was a terrible accident that could happen to anyone. He was just unfortunate that night.   
Once Villanelle starts feeling better, Eve’s decided that she is going to put in her notice with Carolyn and go away with her. It’s unfair to keep Villanelle in limbo with their investigation. The kills had even died down. So maybe there wasn’t even an investigation anymore.   
Where they would go, Eve is unsure but she’d make sure they were both safe. They each have information on the government that they would be killed for in a heartbeat. So it’d need to be off the grid miles and miles away. Wherever that may be.   
Frankly, Eve never thought that she would feel like this about her job. She assumed when she took the MI6 desk job that she’d never be bored again. That only lasted a few hours. She did know that taking the job meant that if she ever left, she’d have to live a life on the run. Carolyn explained that to her from the beginning. She knew the risks and accepted the offer anyways. Eve chose her own destiny.   
Villanelle sighs, setting the empty bowl on the table. She stands up from the couch and stretches out. “I’m going to take a bath,” Eve jumps up and catches Villanelle right before she falls from being lightheaded, to which Villanelle says, “Could you help me up the stairs?”   
Eve does and Villanelle patiently waits while she runs the bath for her. She undresses herself and steps into the tub once it fills up. Eve is about to leave when Villanelle asks, “Stay with me? I don’t want to be alone.”   
“Of course,” Eve sits on the toilet seat and watches Villanelle relax into the water.   
There’s something so childlike about Villanelle that Eve doesn’t entirely understand. She acts and behaves like an adult but there are glimpses where she knows something happened to her when she was young. Something that has frozen her in time in some way, that she can’t seem to move past. Like she wants to go back and change it but doesn’t want to be reminded.   
She’s a complex creature. Catlike, feral in nature but tame in cultivation. Independent to the naked eye but wanting someone to share the joys of life with. Everybody wants that Eve supposes but it was different with Villanelle. She didn’t have any holes that needed to be filled, she just wanted a partner.   
“I like the way that you look at me,” Villanelle states, snapping Eve out of her thoughts.   
“Oh yeah? How’s that?”   
“Like I’m the only person in the world who exists,” she runs the washcloth over her body, never breaking eye contact with Eve, “I was so used to being pushed aside that I tried everything I could to get people to notice me. The real me, deep inside. It never worked but with you, I don’t have to try. You see me.”   
Eve feels as if she could cry, “You’ll never have to feel that way again.”   
Villanelle goes silent again, finishing up her bath. They go back into Eve’s room and while she dresses, Eve makes up the bed for her. Villanelle gets in first and Eve shuffles to the other side, pulling the blanket over both of them. She feels Villanelle’s forehead and it’s a lot cooler. Hopefully the fever has completely broken by now.   
“Is there anything that would ever make you feel differently about me?” Villanelle quietly asks in the dim light of her room.   
“I don’t think there is. Why do you ask?”   
“I’m just worried that I may say or do something that you don’t like and-“   
Eve cuts her off, “Hey, look at me,” Villanelle shifts so she’s laying on her side facing Eve, “I don’t want you to doubt my feelings for you. I will do anything for you. I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you know you are loved.”   
A tear falls down Villanelle’s face, “My heart bleeds for you, Eve.”   
“I know,” she cups her face in her hand, brushing her thumb over her cheek, “You are an angel to me.”   
“I did fall from heaven,” Villanelle jokes lightly.   
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Eve chuckles, “You should get some sleep. It’ll make you feel better.”   
“No. I don’t want to have nightmares again,” Villanelle genuinely looks terrified.   
Eve reaches over and wraps an arm around her, “Go to sleep. I will fight any bad dreams away, I promise.”   
Villanelle is reluctant at first but finally drifts off into peaceful sleep. Eve however, is wide wake. She can’t sleep at all despite how many sheep she counts. All she can think about is keeping Villanelle safe, from outer forces and herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me over on tumblr @ kissvillanelle , for all things KE :)


	15. Villanelle : Final Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villanelle discovers the truth behind the mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall!! hope yall are having the loveliest of days. this is the last chapter we have before the final chapter and epilogue which will be uploaded the same day. i hope you all enjoy regardless. leave feedback if you do :)

A little after noon, Villanelle stands in the kitchen with Eve helping prepare lunch when a knock came from the door. She bumped Eve with her hip, “I’ll grab it.”   
She rounds the corner to open the door, finding Konstantin and the older woman from the precinct standing with him. The other woman is taller than she is with cropped dark hair wearing a rather exquisite cashmere sweater. Villanelle can tell by looking at her that her moisturizer is fantastic from the lack of crows eyes. She hadn’t gotten a good look at her before but she definitely recognizes her. Villanelle flashes an awkward smile, “Eve, can you come here?”   
“What is it?” Eve asks before stopping dead in her tracks, “Oh, Carolyn. What brings you here?”   
“I’ll be frank and get right to the point,” Carolyn doesn’t even bother coming inside, “We’re here to take Billie down to the precinct for some questioning. We’ll bring her back to you later.”   
Villanelle doesn’t have time to say goodbye to Eve before Konstantin is leading her out of the house. She turns to look back, seeing Eve standing in the doorway with a hurt and confused look on her face. She mouths I’ll be back, to Eve which gets a weak smile from the woman. Konstantin opens the door to the car and she’s pushed into the backseat.   
“What is this about?” Villanelle drops her fake English accent because frankly, she’s pissed but she also suspects Carolyn knows all about her.   
“This is about finishing the job,” Carolyn pipes in, “Turns out your contract has been terminated.”   
Her eyes go wide with anger and betrayal, “When were you going to tell me?” she screams at Konstantin who doesn’t even blink.   
“It was not my idea,” he replies weakly.   
“Is this what you meant when you told me about finishing the job? Huh? It was all about me in the beginning wasn’t it?” Villanelle wants to kick the back of their seats viciously, knocking their heads into the console of the car. She wants to see them bleed out and beg for her to have mercy on them.   
“We are here to help you,” Carolyn turns to look at her, “We knew their plan from the beginning. This was a test to see if you were strong enough for the job. You’d been slacking and they wanted to see if you still had it in you. You failed the test of course, which is why we’re here.”   
“This is helping me? By telling me that they’re going to murder me?” Villanelle scoffs, bouncing her leg up and down to keep her anger at bay. It wasn’t working very well but if she tried to kill the both of them right now they’d crash and she may end up dead anyways!   
“We’re telling you this so you can get away,” Konstantin interjects, “You are to kill Frank Haleton tonight. He is in a safe house because threats were made to his life. Once you kill him, you need to run away.”   
“What about Eve?” Villanelle does not want to leave without her.   
“What about Eve?” Konstantin mocks, laughing at her, “You need to forget about her. Don’t forget that she is the reason you are in this position. You fell in love with her and now you are going to end up dead.”   
“I told you I won’t leave without her!”   
“You will,” Carolyn says very smoothly, “Do you think she’ll still want to be with you after we tell her you were the one who killed her husband? You can’t ignore that fact forever. She’ll despise you once she finds out.”   
Villanelle shakes her head, pushing her palms into her eyes. Please let this all be a dream. She lifts her head and still finds herself sitting in the back of the car. “You wouldn’t.”   
“We would and we will,” Carolyn states curtly. “We care about you Villanelle. That’s why we are trying to help you get out before you get hurt.”   
Villanelle tunes everything out. She doesn’t care that they want to help her. In fact, it seems like they’re only trying to hurt her by blackmailing her about Eve. She knows that they won’t hurt Eve but the thought of Eve not loving her anymore after she finds out she killed Niko is unbearable.   
She feels stupid that she didn’t catch onto their plan from the beginning. If she’d known her and Eve could be on a boat to another country right now. She wouldn’t have found out that she even killed her husband and everything would be okay. They’d be happy and content with being on the run.   
Except, everything wasn’t okay. It was far from it and Villanelle didn’t know how she would get Eve back. If Eve would even want her back. She thinks they’re bluffing when they say they’ll tell Eve she killed her husband but she knows they probably will. For leverage to get Eve to do what they want. She got too involved in her investigation with Villanelle that the sheer horror of knowing she fell in love with her, will disgust her.   
It hurts Villanelle even to think about that fact. In her own mind though, she knows that Eve does not care she’s killed so many people. Eve has told her with her own mouth she doesn’t. So why does it have to be so hard?   
The car rounds back around the corner and pulls back in front of Eve’s house. Konstantin hands Villanelle her last postcard, “Don’t say a word. If you do anything stupid we won’t be here to help you.”   
Villanelle snatches the postcard from his hand and exits the car. When she’s back inside Eve’s house, she comes running up to her, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re home. I was so worried. Did something happen?”   
“No,” Villanelle fakes a smile, “I think I’m going to go lie down for a while. I feel like I’m getting hot again.”   
“Of course,” Eve watches her as she makes her way up the stairs, “Let me know if you need anything. I love you.” 

Later in the evening, Eve knocked on her bedroom door. She was dressed in her navy business suit, “Hey, I was called into the office for an emergency. Something’s going on and they need me down there. Are you feeling better?”   
She comes in and sits on the side of her bed momentarily. Whiskers, her cat comes and jumps on Villanelle’s lap. She doesn’t fight it anymore, in fact she kind of likes him. Villanelle nods, “Yeah, a little.”   
“Will you call me if you need me? I know they say it’s an emergency but I’ll leave if you need me here,” Eve stands and Villanelle can tell that she’s stalling leaving. She knows that they said something to her earlier and is hoping Villanelle will tell her. Despite how much she wants to, she doesn’t want to put Eve into immediate danger by running away. She will leave tonight and wait it out. She will let Eve make the choice.   
“I will, darling. You should go before they start blowing up your phone,” Villanelle stands up and presses a soft kiss to her lips, “I love you.”   
Eve waves as she leaves Villanelle’s room. She waits until she hears her car pull away before heading downstairs. She places a note for Eve on the table and takes one last glance around her house. It’s breaking her heart to leave all of this behind. The memories and tender kisses they’ve shared here. The sex. The really, mind-blowing sex. This may be the last time she ever sees Eve but she knows, if Eve truly means what she says, she will find her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me over on tumblr @ kissvillanelle , for all things KE :)


	16. Eve : For Whom the Bell Tolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve finds out the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello lovelies!!! this is the final chapter as far as the actual story. next chapter will be the epilogue. :) happy reading and be sure to leave feedback if you enjoy it!

As soon as Eve arrives to the precinct, she’s bombarded by millions of questions and papers. She doesn’t even have time to take her coat off. Bill is going on about Frank while Kenny is plugging something in on his computer. Elena is in the process of trying not to pull her hair out. Carolyn stands in the corner with her arms crossed.  
“Will someone, please explain to me what is happening?” Eve shouts, grabbing all of their attention.  
“Someone is trying to kill Frank,” they all state in unison.  
Eve didn’t see a problem with that considering how degrading he always was to her. She didn’t think they particularly cared that much either but all threats on government officials must be taken seriously. Eve sits on the arm of Bill’s chair, “So, who’s trying to have him killed?”  
“An organization who call themselves The Twelve,” Carolyn is the one to answer this time, “Turns out he was a mole. He gathered information from us to give to them. He got himself in too deep and was trying to leave, so now they’re trying to kill him.”  
This is a huge breakthrough, “So, how did you guys find this out?”  
“He told us,” Bill shuffles through the pile of papers he’d handed Eve earlier to Frank’s statement, “He admitted everything to Carolyn. How they paid for his children to go to school, his wife’s medical bills. Everything.”  
“Did he mention anything about the assassin?” Eve is curious to know. She needs to know.  
“Yes,” Kenny replies, “He said that her name is Oksana. He met her briefly in a recruiting meeting years ago. Said she was fresh out of a Russian prison after chopping some guys knob off.”  
“Are you running her name through our system?” Eve asks.  
“Yes, but it will take some time. Apparently Oksana is a very popular name in Russia.”  
Carolyn’s phone rings, it’s a very brief conversation but when she hangs up she says, “Bad news.”  
“They cancelled the Great British Baking Show?” Elena perks up.  
“No,” Carolyn grimaces, “Frank’s been murdered. Apparently the safe house wasn’t safe enough.”  
“It was her,” Eve stands up from her chair, “She’s here in London.”  
“Yes, but please don’t go looking for her,” Carolyn asks in a demeaning way.  
“I’m not worried about her,” Eve snaps back, “I’m worried about Vil-, I mean Billie. They know she’s here, she could be in danger.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous Eve,” Carolyn scoffs as Kenny’s computer dings.  
“I’ve got a hit.”  
They all gather around Kenny and oh my god. Eve’s heart drops to the floor. It’s her. It’s Villanelle. She’s younger and her hair was darker but it’s her. Her Villanelle. Eve is sick to her stomach.  
“She went to prison for murdering her school teacher’s husband. Castrated him. Says she died in 2014 but I don’t think that’s true,” Kenny states.  
“No,” Eve says solemnly, “She’s been living in my house. I’ve slept with her.”  
“You what?” they all turn to her and look at her in shock but Eve doesn’t even acknowledge it.  
Eve knows that she shouldn’t be surprised seeing Villanelle’s face on that screen. Or Oksana’s face. She tried to tell Eve numerous times that she wasn’t the person she thought she was. Eve knew that someday she’d find out, she just didn’t think it would be this. Honestly, she felt a little betrayed. She had a lot of questions she needs answered.  
Like what were her true intentions this entire time. Was she even kidnapped by Victor Kedrin all those years ago? Did she even love Eve like she said she did? Or was it all a ploy?  
Villanelle told the truth about one thing though, or partial truth. It was about her falling in love with her school teacher but she most definitely left the part out about killing her husband. Eve recalls the night of their first kiss, vividly like it just happened. She squeezes her eyes shut to push back tears.  
“I suppose this is the part where I ask you to come into my office,” Carolyn says to Eve. She follows behind Carolyn who closes the door behind her. “Eve, there is no easy way for me to say this, but Oksana, she is the one who murdered your husband that night in Poland.”  
“What?” her chest twists in knots, “She wouldn’t.”  
“Yes, she would. We told her to kill him.”  
“We?” Eve spits, “We? You mean you’re a part of this?”  
“It would appear that way, Eve.”  
“Why?”  
“Why what? Why would I be a part of it? Well, because I created it,” Carolyn smirks rather proudly of herself, “I was sick and tired of people thinking they could do whatever they wanted within the government and get away with it. So, I brought together twelve of my most loyal and trustworthy allies to take them down.”  
“You had Frank killed,” Eve states, angrily. “You had my husband killed!”  
“Frank wasn’t my idea. He was close to finding out my involvement with them, it had to be done.” Carolyn crosses the room and pours herself a stiff drink, “Niko, however, was my idea. You were getting too involved with your investigation with Oksana. I needed a distraction but you did not care about him did you?”  
Eve is speechless, “Of course I cared about him! He was my husband.”  
“Did you though?” Carolyn raises an eyebrow, “Because it seems to me that only months after he died, did you delve back into your investigation looking for her. You act as if he didn’t even exist. You only care about her.”  
Eve can’t deny any of it. It’d be a lie. She did care about Villanelle so much that Niko became invisible to her. But he was invisible to her long before that. Villanelle may have killed Niko, but the only person who’s responsible for his death is her. She killed his soul a long time ago, slowly watching more and more of it disappear into the void. Villanelle only killed his physical body.  
“I need to find her,” Eve picks up her bag and goes to leave, “Don’t think that you will get away with this. You will pay for what you’ve done.” 

Back at her house, Eve shuts and locks every door and window she can find. Villanelle is long gone. Like a shadow of the night. Eve has some time before they come busting in to kill her but it won’t be long before they eventually come looking for her. It gives her long enough to pack a bag and maybe have a drink. She pours herself a glass of wine from the fridge and sits down at the table when she notices a letter with her name written on it. It’s Villanelle’s handwriting. She rips it open to read. 

Darling Eve,  
If you are reading this, just know that I am sorry.  
By this point, you will have been told everything but  
I want you to know my side of the story. 

A month ago, I was told by my handler Konstantin  
that I would go undercover at MI6 in witness protection  
after I killed Victor Kedrin. He gave me a list of five people that  
I was to kill while staying under your roof.  
All those men? I killed them. I wanted to tell you but it would have put you in danger and I did not want that for you. 

My schoolteacher. That was the truth, mostly.  
However, I did not tell you that she was the one who asked for me to kill her husband.  
She told me she didn’t love him anymore and she wanted me to get rid of him so her and I could be together.  
I did what she asked but when she saw what I did, she threw me in prison.  
When I was there, I was beaten viciously by the guards.  
They would beat me until I was bloody or my bones would break. It was torture. 

My name, is not Villanelle. It’s Oksana. I am named after my father’s mother.  
He was a drunk and my mother was evil. She threw me into an orphanage when I was eight because she was afraid of me.  
She thought that I would hurt them and took me away. I burned down the orphanage a year later and they all died in a car crash.  
Her favorite perfume was La Villanelle. That is the truth.  
So, when I no longer wanted to be Oksana, I became Villanelle. The stronger, better version of myself. 

Lastly, I did not know that I killed your husband. I found out when I went through the boxes in the basement and saw a photo of him.  
Eve, please believe me when I say that if I had known why I was told to kill these people, I would have not killed him. He was innocent.  
I did not know I was killing innocent people. I was told to not ask questions, so I didn’t.  
I would’ve never done it if I knew he was your husband. 

Eve, if I have one truth to my name, it is that I truly do love you. I did not pretend.  
You have shed light into my heart and brought happiness to me. I finally feel normal.  
I know you must be angry with me but if you want to find me, look where 54.855°N 163.414°W meets the sea. 

-With my love,  
Villanelle x 

Eve folds the letter up and puts it into her pocket. She wipes away her tears as she pours another glass of wine. She heads upstairs and throws a pile of clothes into a suitcase and zips it up. Whiskers comes in and runs his body over her leg, purring loudly. She smiles and picks him up, petting his soft fur.  
“You’re gonna stay with the neighbors for a while, buddy,” Eve says through her tears. “I’ll come back for you when it’s safe.”  
She sets her glass of wine down and picks up her suitcase and walks out her front door. Eve doesn’t look back. It’s time for her to leave it all behind. She knocks on her elderly neighbors door. It’s late but they answer the door anyways.  
“Angela,” the older woman says to Eve. She’s always called her that but Eve didn’t have the heart to correct her, “What can I do for you?”  
“I was wondering if you’re willing to watch my cat for me. His name is Whiskers. I have to leave for a while and I need someone to look after him,” Eve states in one breath. “I will come back for him soon.”  
“How long will you be gone?”  
“I don’t know. I just don’t want him to go to a shelter, he’s a very sweet boy.”  
“Well, set him down then,” the woman asks. Eve does and Whiskers takes off through the neighbors house. “I will take good care of him. I’ll see you when you get back.”  
Eve waves goodbye to them, knowing deep in her heart that’ll be the last time she probably ever sees them. She made her choices. She knows what she has to do. Now she’s going to live with them regardless of how hard it will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eve won't forget about her cat i promise!!


	17. Epilogue : False Pass, Alaska

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve and Villanelle reunite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the epilogue!! ahh!! i'm not going to spoil anything so check back for final end notes :)

Melting snow covers the shore line, revealing bright green grass underneath. Dogs bark in the distance and children run through the streets. Eve pulls her coat in tighter, finding it a little colder than expected. She clutches Villanelle’s note in her hand.   
She crosses the small dirt path, passing by the small church and graveyard behind it. A group of people stand over a fresh grave. There’s a woman weeping and a man, who must be her husband holding her tightly. Three children stand next to them, eerily quiet while a pastor speaks words of comfort to them. That poor family.  
Eve walks a little further, turning at the corner. There’s a barn to her right filled with animals as a man chops firewood. He waves at Eve and she waves back, continuing down the way. She comes to another junction, on the right of her is a small group of houses but to the left, there’s only one house standing by itself.   
She instantly knew the house belonged to her. It’s the last house on the lot, cornered from the rest of them. The outside looked a bit shabby but chic. Like someone is in the process of renovating. It was very her.   
Her aura radiated from the house, too. She could feel her. It made Eve a little nervous, if she is being honest with herself. Gathering all her strength, she pressed on closer to the house, stopping briefly at the bottom of the porch steps.   
Once she stepped up and knocked on her door, there’s no turning back. She’ll face the woman she has fallen in love with. The assassin she’d chased for years. She still couldn’t believe it but in some way, it’s perfect. Eve had wanted to find her, meet her, and the universe delivered her right to her.   
She takes in a breath and finally makes her way up the stairs, picking up her suitcase so it didn’t make any noise. She stops at the door, raising her knuckles to rap on the wood when it opens. There she stood, in a royal blue turtleneck and cream colored plaid pants. Her hair was down and flowing over her shoulders. Eve didn’t know how it was possible, but she seemed to be more beautiful than before.   
“Hi Eve,” she speaks with her full, deep Russian accent. “So nice to see you.”   
“It’s nice to see you, too.”  
“Are you here to kill me?” she raised an eyebrow, but there’s a hint of a smirk underneath.   
“Is that what you think I’m here for?” Eve asks slightly annoyed but slightly hurt that she would think such a thing. Then again, Villanelle did kill her husband so she supposes she has every reason to assume Eve is here to kill her.   
Villanelle shrugs, “It’s always best to assume the worst. That way you can avoid being blind-sided.”   
“That’s fair,” Eve replies, a shiver running down her spine from a breeze of cold air, “I did not come here to kill you, I promise. But I do have questions.”   
“Come in, Eve, please,” she moves away from the door enough to let Eve inside, glancing down at her suitcase and back up to her eyes. Villanelle doesn’t say a word about it but Eve can tell what she’s thinking.   
Once inside, Villanelle shuts and locks the doors. The inside of the cottage faintly reminds Eve of her house. There’s bookshelves filled with old literature books, first editions, encyclopedia’s. A quilt that appeared to be handmade covered the back of the couch and it was very similar to the one her mother made for her as a child.   
Against the wall, a fire burned in the fireplace which had several snowglobes lined across the top. Her home was amazing. Almost the exact opposite of what Eve would’ve imagined it to be. Looking down now, she notices a loaded gun on the side table.   
Villanelle realizes that she catches it and quickly removes it, hiding it under the couch cushion. She then crosses back over to the fireplace, adding a couple more logs to the pit, “It will warm up in a minute. Sometimes it takes a while.”   
Eve nods to this and sits down on the couch, on the same cushion that Villanelle had put the gun under. It didn’t bother either of them, nor should it. Villanelle shifted so she was sitting in the chair diagonal of Eve.   
“Why did you do it?” Eve asks directly, wanting to get down to business so they could get everything over with. “Do you work for the Twelve?”   
She sighs, “Yes, I do work for The Twelve.”  
“What do they want?”  
“They’re an alliance of twelve mercenaries that want to take over the world. Intelligence, weapons, you name it, they want it. They hired me to assassinate those who got in the way of what they wanted.”   
“So Carolyn lied to me,” Eve states.   
“I do not know what she told you, but the Twelve are not good people. They want to destroy all government to rule for themselves.”   
“Did you know that she was one of the members?”   
“I didn’t know that,” Villanelle raises an eyebrow, “Though that does not surprise me.”   
“That brings me back to my first question,” Eve shifts, “Why did you do it? Why did you kill all those people?”   
“Because they told me to. I was not a happy person, Eve,” there’s a hint of tears behind Villanelle’s eyes. “My mother got rid of me at her earliest connivence because she believed I was evil. So, I killed people to deal with the hurt and anger. I used to enjoy it, actually. So when the Twelve helped me get out of prison, I didn’t question it. I would’ve rather died than live another day in that shithole. Killing came easy for me, then. They’d give me names and places, I’d carry out the kill, and I’d get a lot of money.”   
“How much money?” Eve interjects.   
“Thousands,” Villanelle purrs, “Sometimes millions if it was a particularly big job. But the one thing I was told, was to not ask questions about the people I killed so I didn’t. It was not until recently, when I discovered that I murdered your husband, that these people were innocent. Most of them anyways. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known the truth.”   
“You want to know why I don’t believe that? Because I know your style. I studied your kills for years, I know how you work.”   
Villanelle seems challenged by this, “I do enjoy killing people, Eve. But I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t think I ever did want to, I was only told to. So, yes I killed people in extreme fashions because that was the only time I felt something. Something that wasn’t everything I’d bottled up for half my life. I did it to hide the truth about myself but I think it only proved that my mother was right about me.”   
“I don’t believe that either.”   
“Then what do you believe?” Villanelle scoffs.   
“I believe that you are extraordinary. You’re intelligent, beautiful. You live life with no borders, you do what you want, when you want. You don’t care what others think about you because you know that you can kill them with your bare hands. Frankly, I think that you are amazing and I’m slightly pissed that I spent all this time looking for you just for you to show up at my front door.”   
“Well, you did invite me to stay with you,” Villanelle says with a cocky grin.  
“You’re also an asshole and I can’t believe I fell in love with,” Eve throws back, with a smile.   
Villanelle moves over to she is sat next to Eve, gently placing a hand on her knee. She stares into Eve’s eyes, “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you know the truth. I was going crazy by not being able to tell you who I was. I wanted you to know Eve. I didn’t want to keep any secrets from you, even if it meant that you hated me after.”  
“I don’t think I could ever hate you Villanelle,” Eve reaches up and cups her cheek. A stray tear falls down her face, “I didn’t hate you even when you were just an assassin to me.”   
“Not even that I killed your husband?”   
“No,” Eve brings her hand back and looks away, “He was dead for a long time. I killed his soul a long time ago, you only killed his physical being.”   
“We are the same,” Villanelle says softly after a few moments.   
“Yeah,” Eve nods, “Yeah, we are.”   
Villanelle points at the suitcase by the door, “I suppose that since you didn’t come here to kill me, that you have decided to stay?”   
Eve turns behind her and looks back at Villanelle, “I guess so.”   
The look on her face is pure joy. It makes Eve feel happy that she can make Villanelle feel that way. She does ask though, “How did you get away from them? It took you a while to get here.”   
“I traveled around for a bit, finally hitched a plane to the US then took a bus to Canada. Crossed the terrain and found this drunken pilot who’d lost his license due to drinking. Gave him two hundred quid to bring me here or else I’d report him to the cops.”   
“I see that it worked,” Villanelle laughs, “It gave me plenty of time to get things figured out here. I tried to make it look like your house as much as possible. I wanted you to be comfortable.”   
“How did you know that I would come for you?”  
She shrugs, “I didn’t. I only hoped you would. The time we spent together in London was the first place that felt like home to me in a long time. So, I recreated it. For me and for you.”   
Eve lunges playfully onto Villanelle, latching her lips tightly onto hers. She’d missed them, so very much. “You are so arrogant. But I love it and I love you.”   
“Is this playful insult thing going to become a regular thing?” Villanelle asks, briefly breaking their kiss.   
“Do you not want it to be? I can stop, if it bothers-,”   
She reconnects their lips to shush her, then breaks away again, “No, never stop. I like it.” She stops again, “One last thing.”   
“What’s that, darling?” Eve peppers a few soft kisses on her cheek.   
“I want you to call me Oksana. It is my real name and you are the only one who sees me for who I truly am,” Villanelle digs her hands into Eve’s curls, her favorite thing to do.   
“Anything for you, Oksana.”   
Their lips meet again and this time they don’t break away. Despite the revelations and evolution of everything they’ve been through in the last month, they know that they are truly destined to be together. Not even hard confessions of murder and other crime. With everything that they know, it is only a matter of time before someone finds them. That may be days, weeks, months, years. But for now, they are exactly where they belong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who read this fic. i was very nervous posting this as it's my first multi-chap fic i've ever posted. i had, had this idea in my mind for my own original content but i could never put it together quite right. then one day a lightbulb went off in my head to make it a eve x villanelle fic and lo and behold!! 
> 
> these characters hold a special place in my heart, forever. so it truly, from my heart means the world to me for everyone who has read and enjoyed this fic. i hope that in the future, you'll come back and read it again and again. or continue to read my other one-shots/future fics of them. 
> 
> follow me on tumblr @ kissvillanelle , where you will be able to see my masterlist/future works.
> 
> i bid adieu and happy reading :)


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